


Operation Phoenix

by mixmonitor



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-13
Updated: 2014-09-13
Packaged: 2018-02-17 05:51:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 28,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2298767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mixmonitor/pseuds/mixmonitor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Park Chanyeol becomes the world's most dangerous weapon and Byun Baekhyun is the unlucky agent assigned to retrieve him. They fall in love somewhere along the way. (superpowers/heist/spies!au)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Operation Phoenix

**Author's Note:**

> originally written for the chinguline exchange

**Beijing: September 6, 2014**  
  
There is an auction taking place tonight at the National Art Museum of China. Nobles, highly ranked people in the society and art enthusiasts come from all over the world to attend this gala where a collection of artifacts is being sold for a charitable cause. It's an annual event that is usually held in the countries involved with the United Nations, and this time, the bright city of Beijing takes the crown and pride in hosting it.  
  
However, hidden beneath the walls of the main gallery lies another room where an undisclosed auction is going to take place at precisely twenty two o'clock. Word has gotten out that the list of items contains the most valuable creation ever invented in history: the Andromeda. It kept the rumor mills running for months, but what the item is capable of doing, no one knows at all. One thing is for sure, though—it will be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.  
  
And that's the main target for tonight—or at least for Asia's three most infamous thieves.  
  
Tonight's mission is simple: infiltrate the area, create a distraction, then steal the infamous Andromeda and bow out of the premise before the illicit bidding begins.  
  
A man wearing a silky black suit finally finds his way to the entrance. He flashes the lady behind the desk a charming grin, his pearly white teeth exposed. It doesn't help that his brown hair is straightened down with his bangs swept to the side, making him look like a pretty dashing guy who just stepped onstage as some sort of famous entertainer ready to take his award.  
  
The girl flushes at him, caught off guard by the sudden enthrallment his face offers. "Your name, sir?" she asks politely, although the fact that she’s batting her eyelashes makes her seem very forward.  
  
" _Piao Canlie_ ," he replies, enunciating his syllables. The name rolls off easily out of his mouth, mostly because he's spent the whole night trying to say it as naturally as he could. His self-taught Chinese doesn't disappoint him tonight. He reaches down to his coat's pocket, gets the ivory colored invitation with neatly written Chinese characters on the guest name and slides it across the desk.  
  
It doesn't take her long to run his name through the computer. Her eyes shift from the invitation and back to the computer before uncertainly saying, "Your name isn't on the list, sir."  
  
Canlie starts nibbling on his bottom lip. "I can't believe this," he starts, looking up at her after a few beats of silence, eyes portraying extreme disappointment before heaving a sigh. He gives her his most convincing puppy eyes. "Would it be okay for you to double check with your superiors?"  
  
It works instantly. The girl scrambles off her chair in a hurry muttering an eager "okay" before turning on her heels.  
  
Canlie grins, satisfied, before subtly pressing his palm against his ear and whispering, "She's out."  
  
"Good job at charming her skirt off, Park Chanyeol," a slightly amused voice says from his earpiece, and Canlie—whose real name is Park Chanyeol, turns around and catches a CCTV on his right. He winks at it and a loud scoff rings against his ear.  
  
"Always my pleasure to do it."  
  
Parked on the other side of the building is a rented black minivan where Do Kyungsoo's tiny shoulders are hunched over, his fingers flying over the keys of his computer as he tries to hack the Museum's system. "It's not working," he murmurs against his microphone. "Their security firewall on the main database is too strong."  
  
"Thank god I always bring a backup plan," Chanyeol replies breezily, fishing out a silver usb out of his pocket. He looks around, making sure that the people close to him are occupied, and swiftly plugs it down the computer's port. "Happy Virus is in," he says, leaning back with accomplishment written all over his face.  
  
"Did you seriously just name your new hacking program  _Happy Virus_?"  
  
"What? It makes everyone happy during desperate times."  
  
Kyungsoo laughs shortly, and the noise of the keyboard clicking overwhelms Chanyeol's earpiece for the next two minutes. "Okay, I'm in," Kyungsoo says just in time for the desk lady to come back out. "Do the trick at the count of five."  
  
"Sorry, sir. There seems to be a problem—"  
  
As if on cue, Chanyeol extends a hand over the desk and tucks a stray hair behind the lady's ear. "That looks better," he says suavely. "It's easier to see your beautiful face like this."  
  
 _"Okay, I got your name on the database."_  
  
Chanyeol licks his lips appealingly and nods toward the computer. "Check it again. You might just be a little distracted."  
  
The lady blinks at him, flustered, and internally panics in front of the computer. She feigns a puzzled face after refreshing, the name Piao Canlie suddenly inputted in the list. "Oh—your name's in here. That's really weird," she says confusedly. "They must have fixed the system. I'm really sorry about the inconvenience."  
  
"It's okay," Chanyeol says, flashing her another blinding smile. "Talking to a pretty lady like you isn't a waste of my time."  
  
While on his way to the main hall, Chanyeol fixes his burgundy bow tie in place and presses down the core to activate the tiny camera Kyungsoo placed in earlier. "Premise infiltrated," he whispers lowly, guising it as a cough when one of the ladies passing by gives him an eyeful.  
  
"That was smooth."  
  
Chanyeol laughs. "The book  _How to Woo a Chinese Lover_  I found underneath Jongdae's pillow last night taught me well."  
  
Kyungsoo's face under the dark confinement of the van cracks a tiny smile. Of course, Jongdae would bring a book like that. Speaking of Jongdae—"Hey, Thunder, do you copy?"  
  
A high pitched laughter crackles in their earpieces. There's the sound of wind gushing, the traffic blending with it. Thunder, real name Kim Jongdae, exhales loudly against his microphone as a form of acknowledgement. After a loud thud, he replies, "Yeah, I'm at the roof now. It took forever to climb this place up." He rolls his climbing equipment, stuffs it in his backpack. "I'm also glad that book was helpful, although I'm not sure if I really want you snooping around my things."  
  
"I consider myself lucky that it's the only thing I found," Chanyeol sneers, distracted as he eyes the room full of fancily dressed people.  
  
Chanyeol's been in a lot of situations like this, but tonight's mission somehow screams more dangerous to him. It's one of those times where one of them has to be directly involved with the people around them, and Chanyeol's never been too fond of it. Sure, he's good at acting and easily blends in with the crowd, but he prefers the anonymousness that he gets behind the scenes. The last mission he got himself exposed to others, he found a picture of his back pinned on their file on the government's database. Risking his identity again like this makes it even more worrisome.  
  
Chanyeol shakes his head optimistically. They haven't butchered a mission ever since they got into this business and tonight will go smoothly, too.  
  
He stares at the bodyguards hovering around one of the exit doors and says, "You should get moving, Jongdae."  
  
"How long will it take you to go through the vent?" Kyungsoo asks.  
  
There's a pause on Jongdae's line. "I couldn't get through the main door so I'm sneaking in through a window," Jongdae finally says, sighing wistfully. "I really wonder why I'm always tasked to do this whole sneaking around thing."  
  
"Because you're a minute slower than me when it comes to hacking and Chanyeol's too big to not get caught." Kyungsoo clicks on the rooftop surveillance window and watches Jongdae's mouth curl into a pout as he tries to fit himself in the opening. Jongdae looks frustrated and it fuels Kyungsoo's desire to tease him more. "And that you always, _always_ lose at rock, paper, scissors."  
  
Heartless bastard. He doesn't even mention Jongdae's efficiency on the field.  
  
"Geez, okay. Give me half an hour tops. Don't let your sight off me, Kyungsoo. I don't want to go commando on everyone here."  
  
"You won't have to." Kyungsoo scoffs. "I have an entire screen on your floor's hall. The vault's on your left, room 506. The room you entered isn't occupied so start with the vent there and move."  
  
"Okay," Jongdae responds, his breath cut short after hoisting himself up the vent using the desk in the room. "I'm up. Chanyeol, what's hidden on your sleeve tonight?"  
  
Chanyeol cracks a grin. "I think I'm gonna fancy myself with a glass of martini."  
  
  
  
To Chanyeol's dismay, it takes longer for him to order the drinks than to spot his target. The bartender has been extremely accommodating that Chanyeol's spent the last few minutes talking himself out of the too-friendly conversation about recommended drinks. "Can you just please give me my order now?" Chanyeol finally says.  
  
Once he got the drinks, his eyes immediately land on his target: Song Qian, the wife of the one holding the auction tonight. Research tells him that her husband's quite an authoritarian. Guards usually surround her, and Chanyeol's job is to make them focused on him tonight to have lesser men guard the floor Jongdae's in.  
  
Chanyeol catches her gaze easily as they meet halfway, her cheeks burning as he winks. Chanyeol racks his head for more conversational phrases. She's still holding his stare, and that's good since it means he's caught her attention.  
  
Everything's going according to plan until Chanyeol bumps into someone rushing his way in front of him, the drinks spilling on the other man. "I'm—I'm sorry," Chanyeol stutters, quite surprised by his own clumsiness. " _Dui bu qi._ "  
  
"It's okay, I wasn't looking either," the guy replies easily in Korean. Chanyeol looks up, surprised, and doesn't quite breathe for a second. The guy in front of him is cute, really cute, and he's smiling up at Chanyeol with his cheeks high up and his lightly kohl lined eyes turning into little slits.  _Oh no._  "Although honestly, a new coat will do."  
  
Chanyeol blinks out of his short trance when Kyungsoo huffs in his earpiece. "Chanyeol, what do you think you're doing? We're in the middle of a mission."  
  
"Um," Chanyeol replies intelligently, thrusting the glasses he's holding onto the waiter that passes by them.  
  
" _Chanyeol_ ," Kyungsoo urges. "Target is moving out."  
  
Chanyeol's eyes flicker from the back of the guy's head and sees Qian passing through the doors. He tries to remember the floor plan he went over last night. It doesn't quite work so he hopes for the best as he insists, "There's a bathroom right there. Come on, I'll lend you mine." Chanyeol grabs the guy's hand in a haste, dragging him towards the door as well.  
  
The guy surprisingly doesn't retaliate. Instead, he follows Chanyeol through the way, his other hand clutching his stained shirt. There are bodyguards standing outside the lady's room once they arrive, and Chanyeol thanks his instincts for not failing him tonight.  
  
"I'm really sorry about this," Chanyeol says loud enough for them to hear. They slip inside the gigantic bathroom conspicuously and for the second time, Chanyeol gets to see that charming smile again. Without thinking he says, "This is so embarrassing, uh—"  
  
"Baekhyun," the other replies smoothly. He extends his hand forward. Chanyeol takes and shakes it. Baekhyun's hand is really soft, and Chanyeol feels a little ashamed by the callousness of his palm.  
  
"It's nice to meet you."  
  
Baekhyun laughs. "I meant hand me your coat, but okay."  
  
"Right," Chanyeol replies dumbly, shaking his head and pulling his hand away. He shrugs off his coat, passing it to Baekhyun. The smaller guy takes it eagerly, smiling up at him.  
  
"I'll just change," Baekhyun says charmingly, a smile still plastered on his face, then stalks toward one of the stalls.  
  
Chanyeol exhales loudly, eyes following after him. _He's got a really nice behind_ , Chanyeol thinks, unintentionally staring at Baekhyun's thighs. Chanyeol can't help the way his gaze rakes all over his backside and—  
  
"Try not to drool after that guy."  
  
"Sorry, Kyungsoo," Chanyeol says stupidly, wincing. He's forgotten about the camera in his bow. "What now?"  
  
"Her husband has joined her inside the bathroom while you're busy trying to come up with a coherent sentence to say," Kyungsoo says flatly. "Climb the vent and sneak into the lady's room, see what information you can gather."  
  
" _What?_  There's nothing to climb in here."  
  
"Look on your right." Chanyeol sees sinks aligned at the corner and a small pillar that goes up to the ceiling. He pales a little, thinking of trying to climb it.  
  
Chanyeol purses his lips. "You're kidding me, right?"  
  
"No. That's closer than the stalls."  
  
Chanyeol heaves a sigh as he walks toward it, mumbling a really dejected "alright."  
  
"Oh, and Chanyeol?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Try not to focus so much on that cute guy as well."  
  
Chanyeol's hand slips down a little. At least Kyungsoo recognizes that he's cute. "Shut up, Kyungsoo," he retorts back, and he's definitely not blushing.  
  
  
  
Unknown to Chanyeol on the other side of the room is Byun Baekhyun's real identity. Despite hating the fact that the alcohol's smell is clinging to him, getting martini all over himself had only been his ploy to get himself close to Song Qian. Baekhyun works for the CIA as a topnotch agent assigned to retrieve Andromeda as low-key as possible.  
  
Andromeda has been one of the government's finest inventions. The only details Baekhyun's got about it were the time dedicated into creating it, the list of lives lost in order to contain its existence and its purpose: it's built and designed to be the most dangerous weapon anyone can possess. As a top-secret mission, Baekhyun's been assigned to a relatively small group, and naturally being the one with the most field experience, he was given the responsibility to get it himself.  
  
Baekhyun goes to the farthest stall in the bathroom. He climbs up the toilet seat, points his laser at the ceiling and starts making a makeshift path for himself. One of the faucets starts running, and Baekhyun picks it as the moment to push through the cardboard. He hoists himself up expertly, his thighs dangling until his upper body stabilizes on top.  
  
There are two separate vents that hold the ceiling in this area. Baekhyun immediately crawls into his own, an ear pressed on the bottom of the pathway. A few more trudging later, he can finally hear Qian's and another man's voices. He carefully points the laser down, making a small cut in order to hear well.  
  
He doesn't quite catch the gist of the conversation, but he does hear, "—Andromeda looks really good on you. It's a shame we have to sell it tonight."  
  
 _It's on her?_  Baekhyun thinks, furrowing his eyebrows.  
  
"Don't you want to find out what's in it?" Qian replies.  
  
"It's too dangerous to pry," the man says. "It's better to get it out of our hands as soon as possible."  
  
Baekhyun scoffs at that. Stealing it has already been dangerous enough. The CIA and major syndicates have been all over the world looking for it. Baekhyun shifts a little, trying to make himself comfortable just in time to hear a loud thud on the other vent and a yelp echoing through the metal pathways.  
  
Qian's husband immediately yells, "Who's there?"  
  
 _Shit._ Baekhyun hurriedly drags himself backwards, hearing a constant panic arising from the guards and finally slides down the hole with his heart crazily thumping against his ribcage. "There's someone else after it," Baekhyun whispers to his own earpiece, trying to catch his breath. "Someone else was in the vent but I didn't get to see him on time."  
  
His superior Kim Minseok's reply comes quick, and Baekhyun tries to calm himself through slow breathing. He's already got a bad feeling about this mission. "I'm sending backup. Create a diversion, make sure you identify the enemy, and get the necklace as soon as you can."  
  
  
  
" _Jongdae_ ," Chanyeol wheezes, clutching the knee he bumped against the wall.  _Stupid long legs_. "Get out of there right now. The vault is a trap."  
  
Chanyeol repeats it over and over again like a mantra, but all he gets is a dead line on his earpiece. Mortified, the realization finally hits him. "Shit, they must have disabled communications in the building." Chanyeol sucks in a deep breath, panic rising over his head, because Kim Jongdae better be safe at this moment. He nimbly takes his bow tie off, hoping that Kyungsoo can still follow through the cameras, and enunciates _Vault is a trap; go get Jongdae right now_  thrice.  
  
Chanyeol lands on his feet just in time for Baekhyun to emerge from the stall. He tries to balance himself as he pants, and ends up with an elbow on the running faucet he left earlier. "Did you manage to wipe it all down?" is all he says, ignoring the puddle in his elbow.  
  
Baekhyun chuckles at him. "Are you okay? Your elbow's soaking."  
  
"Oh," Chanyeol says dumbly. He should really work on that, damn it, and then he notices his own coat over Baekhyun. His eyes glaze over Baekhyun's shoulder, which does fit his coat perfectly and down to the sleeves that go until the middle of Baekhyun's hands. He looks adorable like that, and Chanyeol momentarily looks away to focus on his mission. Baekhyun's oddly distracting, and Chanyeol eagerly wants to know what just makes him so attracted at this moment.  
  
"It'll dry off in a bit," Chanyeol mumbles, proceeding to put his elbow underneath the drier. Baekhyun laughs even more, inching closer to help him with it.  
  
"I never got your name," is all Baekhyun says, amusement evident in his voice as he holds the edge of Chanyeol's dress shirt.  
  
"Park Chanyeol," Chanyeol says, and for a second, wants to hit himself at the back of his head for being careless. He shouldn't have said his real name. Kyungsoo and Jongdae will kill him.  
  
Silence follows afterward. They obviously need to get out of this place as soon as possible, but both of them are still unknowingly mapping out plans in their minds, unsure of the next step to take.  
  
"Do you want to—" Chanyeol starts, but gets disrupted by a loud pound on the bathroom's door. Baekhyun clings closer to him, faking a frightened face, his hand around Chanyeol's neck.  _Oh_. Chanyeol's hand automatically places itself on Baekhyun's waist as they both look up to see the armed guards. _  
  
Immediate cover: strangers having a good time. _  
  
To them, Chanyeol and Baekhyun probably look like they're in the middle of a disrupted make out session.  
  
"Why are you two here?" one of guards pries, looking at them suspiciously.  
  
Baekhyun blinks innocently at them, looking very bewildered as he withdraws his hands away from Chanyeol. "He spilled his drink on me," he mumbles coherently, then points at his coat by the sink. Chanyeol extremely wonders if he's heard Baekhyun right when he adds "You're also interrupting a  _very_  intimate moment," in Mandarin. He assumes he's just got his words mixed up, damn Jongdae's love book. The guards immediately leave, unsuspecting.   
  
"I don't know what you said but thank you," Chanyeol says, sighing. "Those were some pretty scary looking guys."  
  
Baekhyun looks at him, eyebrows knitted slightly. Up close, Chanyeol really is attractive. He's got a tall nose and almond shaped eyes, his lips chapped with the constant flicker of his tongue against it. There's really something about Chanyeol, but he can't help but erase all suspicions when his face brightens up with a reassuring grin. "Have you seen the guns they were holding?"  
  
"Don't even mention them," Chanyeol mumbles, shivering. "It's probably the first time I've seen so much guns."   
  
"That's funny," Baekhyun replies, shaking his head with a smile. "I never liked guns. They scare me."  
  
"God, me too. I'd rather settle things with words than violence."  
  
It takes them a while to realize that they're not really supposed to still be holding each other and when they do, Baekhyun steps away with a faint blush in his cheek. _Focus, Byun Baekhyun._  
  
Next to him, Chanyeol's thinking of the same thing. They really need to get out of here. "Do you want to go dance with me?" he offers. Chanyeol's never been good at general dancing, but at least he's decent at waltz to the point of not stepping on his partner's foot every so often. His sister Yoora used to take him all the time to office parties as her date.  
  
Baekhyun links his arm with Chanyeol's. "Alright, Chanyeol. Lead the way."  
  
  
  
They arrive just in time for the band to start playing. Qian's already at the dance floor with her husband, and Baekhyun's the first one who grabs Chanyeol's hand and leads him close to the other couple. They immediately go into their positions with Chanyeol's hand at the small of Bekhyun's back and Baekhyun's circled on his neck, both their right palms held together. For a moment, the tips of Chanyeol's ears turn red when Baekhyun casually strokes the back of his head, the smaller boy just grinning at him.  
  
Saying that they're becoming oddly dependent on each other on this mission is an understatement. This whole intimacy act is perplexing, but with the missions embedded in their heads, they don't say anything about it. Instead, they make it even more realistic as they stare at each other fondly in the midst of the crowd and talk about the things they can think of.  
  
Not that Chanyeol has to pretend anyway. Baekhyun  _is_  lovely.  
  
It takes them two rounds of waltz to get close enough to see Andromeda dangling on Qian's neck. Chanyeol halts and spins Baekhyun, both their eyes still trained on the piece of jewelry. The moment Baekhyun lands back in Chanyeol's arms is when reality finally dawns on him, the suspicions formulating in his head because Chanyeol is still staring at the stone.  
  
"You seem distracted," is all he says, trying not to sound accusatory.  
  
"What?" Chanyeol says, blinking down at him.  
  
"Nothing," Baekhyun replies sternly. They inch closer to the couple and Baekhyun takes it as his cue to step on his foot really hard, just because. Chanyeol yelps loudly, his face reddening as he jumps around for a bit on one foot.  
  
"Ooops," Baekhyun says, not even sounding apologetic as Chanyeol's stare lingers on Andromeda.  
  
"It's okay," Chanyeol wheezes, reaching for his hand again. As he looks up, he sees a familiar figure move across the stage, and for a second Chanyeol's forgotten the throbbing pain in his foot, and a relieved sigh escapes his mouth. Kim Jongdae in all his 170 centimeters glory is sliding a piece of paper toward the lady singer armed with an annoyingly handsome smirk. He's changed into a black dress shirt with his sleeves rolled up and his hair messily done, which is honestly probably caused by the wind outside. Before he could even meet Jongdae's eyes, two hands have already encompassed his face and he's met with Baekhyun's slightly irritated face.  
  
Chanyeol looks hilarious as he says, "Baekhyun?" with his cheeks squeezed and his lips jutting out.  
  
When the music starts playing again, it's Jongdae's soothing voice that echoes through the vicinity. He starts singing an upbeat rendition of  _Save the Last Dance for Me_ which Baekhyun finds ironic at the moment. The crowd starts shifting, partners being exchanged—and a surprised Baekhyun gets snatched by a very enthusiastic lady. Chanyeol takes the chance and promptly moves toward Qian, catching her by the waist.  
  
"You're the attractive guy from earlier," Qian tells him interestedly. Chanyeol hums in reply and pulls her closer, his fingers dangerously running up and down her back as they move swiftly away from the crowd. Chanyeol finally meets Jongdae's eyes behind her and Jongdae signals at the lights as he belts out the bridge.  
  
It all happens very fast. Chanyeol leans closer, his hand caressing the back of her neck, and tells her: "You're very pretty." The music comes to a stop and the room gets engulfed in darkness the exact moment he unclips the necklace. Chaos ensues and Chanyeol rapidly runs toward the stage, necklace in hand as the people shriek inside the ballroom. He remembers the blueprint and the exact location of the door behind the stage, and meets Jongdae with a triumphant grin.  
  
"Come on, we have no time left," Jongdae tells him, beaming as they run across the hall toward the exit. It's at least fifty meters away. They hear a bunch of footsteps and angry yells of Mandarin following after them, and they duck at a wall just in time for a bullet to whizz past them. They continue to run until they reach the exit. The angry whir of the minivan reverberates as Kyungsoo pulls up, the two safely slipping inside as gunshots echo into the distance.  
  
Chanyeol and Jongdae breathe in relief as they drive away. Chanyeol scrambles closer to squeeze Jongdae's shoulders and says, "You made me extremely worried back there."  
  
Kyungsoo meets their gazes from the rearview mirror with a scowl. "We're not doing this in a long while," is all he mumbles, and Chanyeol and Jongdae only snicker because it only translates to _I'm glad you fuckers are safe._  
  
"That was great work back there, though," Chanyeol says after a while, looking at the necklace in his hand. The stone consists of colors similar to a clear night sky, and spots glimmer under the car's yellow lights like distant stars. Chanyeol squints at it. For a second he swears he saw smoke circling inside it, as if it's come to life.  
  
"It could have been planned better," Kyungsoo says. "Hey, Jongdae. Are you done?"  
  
"Just a sec." Jongdae's already settled down next to the computers with his feet propped up as he finishes up his codes.  _Surveillance files deleted._ He leans back and cracks his neck, a smile spreading on his face. "I guess that will do for now."  
  
Chanyeol joins him, crossing his legs together and putting his arms behind his head. "Anyone up for dimsum?" Chanyeol asks, grinning.  
  
Kyungsoo only replies with an incredulous laugh. Jongdae hooks his arm around his neck, pulls Chanyeol close until his head's on his shoulder. "Definitely," he replies, giving him a well deserved noogie.  
  
This is how they live their lives: full of danger, the adrenaline rushing through their veins, their heartbeats ringing against their ears—and honestly, all of these factor to one of the best nights they've had in a while.  
  
  
  
Back at the building, backup's finally arrived for Baekhyun. He rushes to the surveillance room where he's met by the knocked out guards on the floor. Cautious with his gun at hand, he crosses the room and looks at the screens. Almost all of them have blacked out except for the last one.  
  
"Agent Kai, I need you at the surveillance room," he mumbles to his earpiece. Baekhyun tries to cancel the deletion process and types away all the codes he remembers, but whatever he inputs doesn't work at all. Behind the deletion window, the certain timeframe the hacker's trying to delete is on a loop. He sees Chanyeol's familiar back with another man running toward the backdoor exit with the necklace in hand, and waits for the deletion to finally reach up to a 100%.  
  
"They've escaped," Baekhyun confirms, slumping his shoulders to his seat. He feels like an idiot for not even suspecting Chanyeol back when they were just in the bathroom. Stupid giant and his charming smile and that perfect velvety voice. Baekhyun heaves a sigh. He's going to make sure that this would be the first and last time Park Chanyeol escapes from him.  
  
  
  
  
 **Seoul: September 20, 2014**  
  
It takes two weeks for Baekhyun to track Andromeda down.  
  
The last person he asked about Park Chanyeol had been too easy—in a sense that he didn't have to put him through interrogations or threaten him with torture—and it was suspicious. He was ordering an iced cafe with photographs in his hand when the guy behind the counter easily said, "Are you looking for Chanyeol? He plays at the Secret Box sometimes."  
  
By playing, Baekhyun honestly expected something worse—maybe an underground gambling center, a secret society of fighters or something equally dangerous, but definitely not a cozy cafe down the block.  
  
He slides into one of the booths just in time to catch a glimpse of Chanyeol's unforgettable face. He stands out in the crowd sporting a new hairstyle and a dubiously casual outfit consisting of ripped skinny jeans and a navy blue sweater. Baekhyun scoffs at it, but that doesn't make him less attractive than the last time Baekhyun's seen him.  
  
It seems like Chanyeol's opting for an ordinary night—or whatever they call this whole  _thing_  is. Before he flew back to Seoul, Baekhyun's gotten intel about the trio who's been heisting all over Asia, about their efficiency and incredible teamwork, the lack of violence and casualties for every crime—but not  _this_. Not Park Chanyeol or any of the three infamous criminals in Asia setting up shop in the cafe's stage like a bunch of regular musicians doing their job on a Saturday night.  
  
As he peeks out of the menu the waiter provided, all he sees is an annoyingly charming smile implanted on Chanyeol's face as he finally sits down.  
  
He presses a button on the side of his watch and a whirring sound reverberates from it. _Location saved, transferring to database now._ "Target spotted," Baekhyun whispers.  
  
"Location captured," Joonmyun replies immediately. "Be careful, agent Byun."  
  
 _Right_ , Baekhyun thinks, watching as Chanyeol starts strumming his guitar.  _How dangerous can this man really be?_  
  
The lights start dimming around him. Cautious, Baekhyun pulls out his derringer from his small messenger bag, sliding it behind the menu. He watches Chanyeol take a deep breath, eyes closed. He looks so vulnerable at this state, and Baekhyun can honestly just pull the trigger now, but he doesn't. Couldn't. Too many people are around to risk casualties no matter how important Andromeda is, and Chanyeol's just... mesmerizing as soon as he starts playing.  
  
Baekhyun can't shift his eyes away. It reminds him of Beijing, that smile... the stupid stuttering in his chest that continued on for the past two weeks.  
  
He's still as beautiful as the first time he's seen him. He lets out a pining sigh and catches himself off guard.  
  
Stop and rewind. Baekhyun totally  _doesn't_  like Park Chanyeol.  
  
Thankfully, Joonmyun cuts his thoughts off by asking, "Is that a band playing in the background?"  
  
Baekhyun swallows. "Yeah. They're quite good."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"The targets."  
  
"They're  _playing_?"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"Impressive," Joonmyun says, slightly amused. "And weird, considering their line of job."  
  
"They're smart," Baekhyun murmurs, pursing his lips. "A band seems like a great cover."  
  
"Alright. Get close, Agent Byun," Joonmyun replies, sounding like he's in a hurry. "I'll send Agent Kai to give you Park Chanyeol's file at nine. Make sure to get all the information out before retrieving Andromeda. Good luck."  
  
"Thank you, sir," Baekhyun says, then turns off the earpiece. He tucks it in his bag along with his gun and relaxes, just listening to the other two's melodious singing.  
  
The trio wraps up the session with an acoustic cover of Bumkey's  _Attraction_. Baekhyun ends up ordering chocolate milkshake and tiramisu cake while he waits, unconsciously jamming through the last song.   
  
"We'll be back after a short break," Chanyeol says, grinning at the crowd, and as he walks away from the stage, Baekhyun makes his cue to make himself noticeable.  
  
"Hey!" he calls out, waving a hand. Beside Chanyeol, two of his friends look at him confusedly. Chanyeol furiously blinks at him, his face surprised. Baekhyun makes his way towards them and smiles. "Remember me?"  
  
Chanyeol remembers. He remembers to the point of tossing his blanket all night and just thinking how good it would have been if he met Baekhyun in a different circumstance, and how guilty he was of ditching Baekhyun after the dance. "Baekhyun," Chanyeol says, a little breathless. He eyes Baekhyun's outfit tonight: just a simple pair of dark blue jeans and a white shirt underneath a casual light grey blazer. He looks even cuter than the last time he's seen him, and his eyes look adorably droopier without the eyeliner on. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I was in town," Baekhyun replies easily, smiling at him. He feels uneasy but he still lies through his teeth. "A friend recommended this place to me. I didn't know you played here."  
  
"Well," Chanyeol says, laughing nervously. His eyes flicker from Baekhyun's face to Jongdae and Kyungsoo's puzzled faces. "There's a lot you don't know about me," he mumbles, turning to his friends. "These are my friends, Jongdae and Kyungsoo."  
  
 _So this is the infamous trio._ "Byun Baekhyun," he replies, waving a little. "Your band's really good."  
  
"Thank you," Jongdae quips lively.  
  
Kyungsoo's jaw are tensed when he asks, "So where did you two meet?" knowing completely that Baekhyun's from the auction.  
  
"We met at the auction in Beijing," Baekhyun says, looking at Chanyeol fondly. They better fall for it—people always do. Baekhyun's terribly a good liar. "He was quite charming, but he disappeared before I got his number."  
  
Chanyeol starts coughing, oblivious to Baekhyun's intentions, his cheeks as red as his new hair color. He turns toward his friends and widens his eyes comically, signaling for them to leave. "You two are hungry, aren't you? Go, go. Food's on the house," he mumbles, and pushes the two away.  
  
"Why'd you make them leave?" Baekhyun asks, blinking at him cutely. "I wanted to know them better."  
  
"They're going to end up doing the 101 game with you," Chanyeol says with a laugh, urging Baekhyun to follow him. They move back to the booth Baekhyun was sitting in earlier and Chanyeol fidgets with his hand before saying, "Hey, I'm sorry about Beijing."  
  
"You should be," Baekhyun says with a trace of bitterness in his voice.  _You got me in so much trouble._  "Speaking of which, where did you go?"  
  
"There was an emergency back home," Chanyeol says, wincing a little. He hopes he doesn't jinx it. "My sister had a bit of a problem so I had to come back as soon as possible."  
  
Baekhyun narrows his eyes suspiciously at him. "You have a sister?"  
  
Chanyeol cackles lowly. "Is that surprising? Yeah, she owns this place," Chanyeol says fondly. Baekhyun wonders if he's lying, but Chanyeol's expression says otherwise. He seems like he adores her a lot.  
  
"She must be lucky to have a brother like you who'd come right when she needs him," Baekhyun replies smoothly. Chanyeol's taken aback at that, scratching at the side of his head as he laughs shyly, and Baekhyun feels a little twinge in chest. At least his flirting techniques are working.  
  
"What about you?" Chanyeol asks.  
  
Baekhyun plops his chin on his hand, watching as Chanyeol drums his fingers against the table. "Hm, what about me?"  
  
"I never had the chance to ask." Chanyeol smiles curiously at him. "What were you doing at the auction?"  
  
"I'm an artist," he lies easily. "It's kind of my thing."  
  
"That says a lot about your hands, then."  
  
That catches Baekhyun off guard. "What?" he asks, and sees Chanyeol staring at his palms.  
  
"You've got really nice hands," Chanyeol compliments, wincing afterwards and thinks _don't be creepy, Park Chanyeol._  Because of Baekhyun's lack of reply, he swiftly changes the topic with a cough. "So. What kind of art do you do?"  
  
"I used to paint but now I just buy artworks," Baekhyun replies. "I kind of have a good eye for it. I try to find rare gems in the mud."  
  
For a second Chanyeol considers an inquiry of Andromeda's worth, but he only purses his lips. Baekhyun's better off not knowing about that.  
  
"What about you?" Baekhyun prods.  
  
"I'm not really interested in artworks," Chanyeol admits, then stresses his mind to make up a lie on the spot. "But I work part time for this really rich customer from Gangnam. Sometimes he sends me to do things for him, since, you know, he's too busy making money." He ends it with a laugh, and Baekhyun leans closer, feigning interest.  
  
 _He works for someone?_ Baekhyun takes note. Luckily for Chanyeol, Jongdae interrupts and calls him out before Baekhyun can ask more questions that he probably doesn’t have answers to. "Hey, Baekhyun. Do you mind me borrowing your lover boy?" Jongdae says teasingly, pointing a thumb at the stage. "We'll be up in a bit."  
  
Baekhyun flushes at that for real, mostly because of the way Jongdae's making embarrassing winks and finger pointing.   
  
"Well, to be fair, I've never had a dull moment for the past years we've been friends," Chanyeol says truthfully. "Will you still be here after my session?" he asks hopefully.

Baekhyun looks at his watch. It's already nine in the evening and he has to meet another agent tonight for the files. "I have a prior engagement in a bit."  
  
"Oh," Chanyeol says disappointedly. "Like a date?"  
  
Baekhyun laughs slowly, amusement all over his face. Chanyeol genuinely looks crestfallen. "Potential buyer," he reassures.  
  
"Great," Chanyeol replies a bit too enthusiastically, and then pauses. _Should he ask_ , he wonders, but Baekhyun's already beat him to it. He stands up from his seat and reaches for Chanyeol's arm.  
  
"Hey, I honestly didn't think I'd see you tonight," Baekhyun admits lowly. He licks his lower lip and glances up at a very startled Chanyeol, while thinking  _This trick better work. It always works._ "I don't want to seem so forward with this but I'm not really sure if we're going to see each other again. I'm leaving town in a few days."  
  
A shiver runs through Chanyeol's arm as Baekhyun traces it with his index finger. Before he can even catch himself, he blurts out: "Do you want to go out with me tomorrow night?"  
  
Baekhyun beams up at him like a ray of sunshine. "It's a date, then."  
  
"If you want to call it that, yeah," Chanyeol says, still a little breathless.  
  
"Dinner would be nice." Baekhyun nods, satisfied. "I'm staying at the Suho Hotel close by. You can pick me up at six?"  
  
"That would be a good time," Chanyeol replies too eagerly.  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow, then," Baekhyun says, giving Chanyeol a very charming smile that leaves his heart stuttering out of his chest.  
  
Once Baekhyun gets past the door, he fishes out his phone and clicks on speed dial #1. Joonmyun's voice greets him back. "Status?" he inquires.  
  
Baekhyun grins toward the phone as he tosses his car key in the air and catches it swiftly. He shouldn't be as glad as he is, but his cheeks are hurting from smiling so hard. "I scored a date with the target."  
  
  
  
In the grand scheme of things, worrying about one's love life in the middle of a heist crisis is probably not a very good idea.  
  
They've spent a chunk of their time trying to figure out what Andromeda is for but they've already hit a wall with their findings. It's impossible to understand it without more experts looking through it, so for now, they concluded that it's just a really beautiful stone that's worth a shit ton of money.  
  
But here is Chanyeol, so antsy because he scored a date with Baekhyun instead of concerning himself with the necklace. Sure, Chanyeol's been on a lot of dates and can charm off people in a short period of time, but Baekhyun—he's different. Chanyeol thinks he truly likes Baekhyun, because he's charming and cute and has a quirky sense of humor and did he mention Baekhyun's bashful smile that makes Chanyeol's heart do somersaults in his chest?  
  
It's only four in the afternoon but he's been going in and out of the closet room for a while now to find an outfit that will fit the night, but if he's being honest with himself, he doesn't really have an idea what Baekhyun would like. So instead of going formal, he opts for the simple jeans and dress shirt combination. He takes out the black shirt from the closet and sees Kyungsoo sitting at the edge of his bed when he turns around.  
  
"You really are one hell of a spy," Chanyeol says, clutching his chest.  
  
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at him and strides forward, helping Chanyeol up with his collars. Out of them three, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol have known each other the longest. It doesn't mean that they're not close to Jongdae, but sometimes, even when they don't say anything, they know what's up in each other's mind. Yoora often teased them about it, but they know how extremely platonic their relationship is. They've tried a few years ago. It didn't quite work out as much they wanted it to be so they remained friends.  
  
"What do you think?" comes Chanyeol's question, and Kyungsoo doesn't have to wonder what it pertains to.  
  
"He's from the auction is all I can think of," Kyungsoo replies gently, like he doesn't want to offend Chanyeol with what he might say after. Kyungsoo’s frank most of the time, but when it comes to his friends’ relationship matters, it falters a bit. He pats Chanyeol's cheek with a stern smile. "Sorry, it's quite suspicious."  
  
"You've seen him," Chanyeol reasons out. "Come on, don't worry. The guy's complete harmless."  
  
Kyungsoo chuckles a little and Chanyeol finally relaxes. "You really got it bad for him, don't you?"  
  
"He's like a fresh breath of air out of all the chaos we get into," Chanyeol says, adoration glinting in his eyes. "But I don't know. I quite like him. He keeps me interested."  
  
"Fine," Kyungsoo says in defeat as he finishes up fixing Chanyeol's collars. "Just be cautious around him. After all, it's only the first date."  
  
"Do you think we can work this thing out?"  
  
"Well," Kyungsoo starts with a sigh, "you just have to know him well enough tonight to answer that."  
  
Chanyeol gives him a grateful look as he leaves the room. "Thanks, Kyungsoo."  
  
He pockets his wallet and phone as he walks across the room, and that's when he finally notices the necklace sitting next to his bed. It seems brighter than the last time he's seen it, the blue stone emitting an extra glow like it's a bursting comet with lights around it. They haven't gotten around to sell it yet, mostly because they don't know its worth, and Jongdae insisted that Chanyeol kept it in his room for the past two weeks.  
  
Chanyeol picks it up and examines it closely, and that's when he sees it again: a puff of smoke is moving inside the stone, and at the bottom of it a small spark of bluish fire ignites. Chanyeol's not sure how long he's been holding it or why he couldn't put it down, but one thing is for sure: he's surely enthralled by its beauty. He's never seen anything as breathtaking as the Andromeda before.  
  
What he doesn't expect to happen next is the sudden warmth the stone exudes, his palm throbbing like it's on fire and the nerves in his body feeling electrified. Chanyeol cries out in pain, but he can't even hear himself through the continuous ringing in his ears. The pain just continues, spreading throughout his body like venom. Chanyeol wants it to stop, but the stone won't dislodge itself from his hand as he writhes on the floor in a burning misery. It feels like the stone is synthesizing itself with Chanyeol's body in great intensity. The pain starts subsiding as Andromeda's brightness slowly diminishes in his palm like a burned off star losing its power. Chanyeol's eyelids flutter, his eyesight blurring, and sees his hand giving off sparks like the tiny fireworks he used to play with as a child before finally passing out.  
  
Little does Chanyeol know that in that exact moment, his life has been changed forever.  
  
  
  
Chanyeol wakes up around five thirty. He blinks blearily, his eyes adjusting to the blinding lights, and faintly hears the ticking of a clock and the kettle whistling. "You think he's okay?" he hears Jongdae say worriedly, and the sound of glass sliding at the kitchen counter echoes in his ear.  
  
"I'm awake," he replies, and the scrambling of feet from the kitchen overwhelms him. "Be a little quiet, you guys."  
  
"How's your head?" Jongdae inquires, holding the back of his palm to his forehead. "We heard you screaming and when we went in your room you were already down the floor. What happened?"  
  
Chanyeol squints his eyes at them, still feeling like he's blinded. He covers his eyes with his left palm and tries to remember what happened, but all he can recall is his conversation with Kyungsoo. "I don't remember," he mumbles.  
  
"How can you not remember?" Kyungsoo snaps back.  
  
"I..." Chanyeol pauses, feeling lightheaded. He glances behind him, the clock still ticking loudly. His eyes sharply focus on the hands, a realization dawning to him. He hurriedly gets on his feet, slides a hand on his hair and mutters "Oh, god. I'm going to be late."  
  
"You're still sick," Jongdae says in his usually high-pitched voice, and Chanyeol winces a little at the volume of it. It's like he can pick up every sound in his surroundings.  
  
"Just cancel your date tonight and rest," Kyungsoo says sternly.   
  
"No, really, I'm fine." Chanyeol looks up and beams at them. It's the truth. The dizziness a minute ago has gone away, and all he feels right now is a surge of energy flowing through his body. It's weird, he thinks, he must just be pretty psyched for his date. He stands up from the couch and gives Jongdae's head a childish pat and Kyungsoo a reassuring thumbs up. "I'll see you two later," he says before whistling his way toward the door.  
  
" _There goes the idiot_ ," Kyungsoo says begrudgingly while Jongdae hollers a loud, "Enjoy your date!"  
  
Chanyeol only mumbles a cheerful apology as he rushes out to the street, an excited grin spreading on his lips.   
  
  
  
Chanyeol's file is sitting on Baekhyun's bed. He wonders for a moment if he wants to open it—to know and see everything about Chanyeol like a book you can read inside out, but decides against it. It's a stupid and a risky decision, especially since he's dealing with a criminal, but Baekhyun can't help but feel oddly guilty, like he's already seen everything that is to know about Chanyeol to prepare him for this mission.  
  
Or that he's just really, stupidly confident enough that Chanyeol isn't up to anything tonight and that he might possibly even have a very good time. Baekhyun heaves a sigh as he finally slips down the cuff inside his jacket's pocket, then plops in his bed with his mind in a confused blur.  
  
It's going to be an extremely deceitful night.  
  
  
  
Chanyeol manages to get to Suho Hotel on time. Now, his hand is hovering over Baekhyun's hotel room door. He takes a deep breath, heart rate still racing in nervousness, and fixes his hair one more time before finally knocking. Baekhyun opens the door quickly, like he's been waiting for a long time, and Chanyeol's breath hitches in his throat, mesmerized as Baekhyun greets him with lovely smile.  
  
He's quite thankful to know that he isn't overdressed for tonight. Baekhyun's wearing a white dress shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows, tight black jeans that accentuate his thighs and his eyes lined heavily with eyeliner. Chanyeol also wonders if he's put on a faint tint on his lips. It looks... very kissable. "You look really good tonight," Chanyeol blurts out.  
  
"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself," he replies, grinning. "Come on, I made reservations at the hotel's restaurant."  
  
Baekhyun lays his palm out and Chanyeol takes it with a hint of a smile. A part of him admits that he really, genuinely likes holding Baekhyun's hand.  
  
Dinner goes very smoothly, but it takes Chanyeol half a glass of wine to loosen up and calm his nerves, his heartbeat finally slowing down as he watches Baekhyun across the seat.  
  
While Chanyeol's enjoying himself, though, Baekhyun's got other things in mind. He asks a lot of questions masked underneath an interested lilt in his voice. Unaware of Baekhyun's intentions, Chanyeol opens up like a book and ends up talking more about his life, his little stories animated with his expressions and tiny gestures.  
  
"So what's up with you three? College buddies?" Baekhyun pries. He expected Chanyeol to tell him more about his friends, but all he gets is a vague response.  
  
"Kyungsoo's a childhood friend," Chanyeol says cautiously. "We met Jongdae in high school. We kind of stuck together as a band; we even went to college together on full scholarship rides."  
  
"So you graduated with a music degree?"  
  
"Engineering, actually," Chanyeol says, grinning. "We were great at computers so we pushed through it."  
  
"Wow."  _That can explain all the brilliant and traceless crimes,_  Baekhyun thinks, quite amazed. He definitely isn't putting it on his list of why Park Chanyeol is so attractive. "So why aren't you doing a 9-5 job, then?"  
  
Chanyeol shrugs at that. "We've never been the office types so now we're just handling my sister's place."  
  
The topic eventually drops after that. Baekhyun wants to ask more, but it seems like Chanyeol's too wary talking about his friends so he diverts the conversation instead and goes over humorous little stories that date back in his childhood and college, and even slips up that he used to dream of becoming a rapper when he was younger instead.  
  
Baekhyun wiggles his eyebrows at him. "Beenzino's your favorite?"  
  
"Yeah, ridiculous, right? But he's amazing."  
  
"No way," Baekhyun says, his cheeks swelling as he grins. "He's one of my favorites, too."  
  
Upon hearing that tiny sliver of information about Baekhyun, it makes Chanyeol eager to open up more, although the thing is—well, Chanyeol isn't normally like this. He knows the right words to say, the ones that might not be exactly true but will please the other person. With the nature of his job, it's always been a precaution to avoid most of his personal information.  
  
But Baekhyun's persistent, like a virus ready to breach all of Chanyeol's walls, and in just a night, he must've already heard half of Chanyeol's life. Once in a while, though, Chanyeol gets distracted easily with the tiny details laid out in front of him: the mole on Baekhyun's thumb, the way he touches his mouth with a finger whenever he's listening closely, or even just the way his eyes curl into crescents every time he smiles.  
  
After finally ending an embarrassing conversation about Chanyeol and his childhood fascination on ferrets, he says, "Are we playing a game of questions?"  
  
"Seems like a fitting game for a first date, don't you think?" Baekhyun quips, smiling.  
  
The corner of Chanyeol's mouth rises. "Okay," he says, leaning back. "Then it seems fair that you tell me about yourself, too. It's been just me doing all the talking."  
  
Baekhyun laughs. "What do you want to know about me? My life is boring."  
  
"A lot," Chanyeol says honestly. "You seem like someone I'd really like to know well."  
  
Baekhyun tries not to let that get into him, but he still considers telling the truth. After all, Chanyeol's probably just earnest to know him. He can see it in Chanyeol's everything—his gestures, the way he looks at Baekhyun, how enthusiastic he is at trying to flitter around conversations that might spark Baekhyun's interests. Baekhyun feels the guilt eating through his heart. He downs the rest of his wine and says, "Well, then. Let's start. Fire away the questions."  
  
Chanyeol's face lights up. "It'll just be basic questions. Where did you grow up?"  
  
"Bucheon," Baekhyun says honestly. "Moved to Seattle when I was five. Spent most of my life there, too."  
  
"Seriously?" Chanyeol asks, his eyebrows rising unto his hairline. "I spent college abroad but my English can still be rusty."  
  
"I know a few more languages fluently," Baekhyun admits proudly. "It comes with the job." That isn't a lie either. Governmental jobs like his do come with high requirements.  
  
Now that he's got the chance, Chanyeol asks a lot. His favorite color, song, food, everything that he can think of at the top of his head. Baekhyun wouldn't say it out loud but the act itself is endearing and Chanyeol's childlike expression as he curiously asks more makes his heart stutter.  
  
 _You can't_ , he tells himself, watching as Chanyeol laughs, his nose crinkling with all his teeth bared. Chanyeol looks funny when he smiles too much but Baekhyun treasures the moment, unsure of what to do next.  _Focus on the mission, Byun Baekhyun. You have a plan._  
  
It takes them another round of decadent wine to finish the conversation. Chanyeol is not a lightweight; in fact, he can even rival Jongdae who doesn't get knocked out until he's finished eleven bottles of soju. However, tonight though is a different matter. After taking his last swig, he sways a little in his seat, eyesight blurring. His body seems heavier, warmer, like he's suddenly submerged under boiling water. He doesn't tell Baekhyun—he doesn't want to. It's too much of a mood ruiner, but the way he stumbles up and slurs, "I'm going to the bathroom" makes Baekhyun a little suspicious.  
  
Once he reaches the bathroom, he hurriedly goes to the sink, splashes his face with water a couple times before heaving a sigh. He's sweating so much now, his shirt sticking to his body, and Chanyeol still feels extremely warm. No matter how much he washes his hands, the fiery feeling in them doesn't go away so he resorts to calling Jongdae.  
  
"Hey." Jongdae's bright voice greets him. "How's the big date going?"  
  
"I'm dying," Chanyeol wheezes jokingly. There's a frantic sound behind the line, like Jongdae probably tripping over something in the living room continued by a frenzy of  _Kyungsoo-yah get out of your room!_  
  
"Did Baekhyun try to kill you? Is he an agent? I'm going to come right now—" is what comes after that, but Chanyeol only laughs, thinking back to Baekhyun's amazing smile and how tiny and cute and impossible it is for him to come after Chanyeol.  
  
"No, no. That's impossible."  
  
"Then  _what_?"  
  
"I just feel a little sick and I don't want to worry Baekhyun." Chanyeol sighs, furrowing his eyebrows. He only intended to relax but the moment he closes his eyes, flashbacks of the afternoon experience with Andromeda penetrates his mind—the electricity flowing through his veins, the torturous warmth in his body, the sparks.  _Oh god. What's happening to him?_  "Jongdae, where is Andromeda?"  
  
"I put it on you," Jongdae replies smugly and Chanyeol gasps. "What? I thought it would impress Baekhyun since, you know, you said he's an artist."  
  
Chanyeol immediately unbuttons his shirt and there it is, lying innocently in his chest. Chanyeol swears he didn't even feel it there, like its heaviness has diminished into a weightless stone. His hands are shaking as he touches Andromeda. It feels cold in his fingertips. "We'll talk about this later."  
  
"Stay safe, alright? Come home if it gets worse," Jongdae says. "Or better yet let your date take care of you."  
  
" _Jongdae_ ," Chanyeol intones, sounding embarrassed. "I'll call you later."  
  
Chanyeol presses the end call, then weaves his hand through his hair and carefully watches himself in the mirror. Chanyeol doesn't really want to worry his friends until he finds out what's happening. There's no significant change in his appearance, no burns, nothing. Whatever's wrong with him—it might be inside. Before he can even heave another sigh, the sound of the door creaking infiltrates his hearing and Baekhyun's there, looking a little worried as he mumbles a curious, "Are you okay?"  
  
He doesn't know how to respond and only smiles a little as he meets Baekhyun's eyes. Chanyeol leans back at the counter, feeling a lot calmer as soon as Baekhyun makes his way toward him.  
  
On the other hand, Baekhyun's eyes immediately gloss over the necklace exposed in his chest.  _It's been there the whole time?_ he thinks, feeling a little stupid, and at that moment, Baekhyun's head finally focuses on his mission. To retrieve it is what he came to do, although how he plans to do it, he has no idea.  
  
But Chanyeol opens his mouth as if to say something and all of a sudden all he can think of is those lips, and damn himself if he isn't thinking about the easiest way to get it. It's either he tries to get into Chanyeol's good side (which honestly just consists of him with his clothes discarded on the floor) and steal Andromeda back or just—well, make a scene and hope to heavens that Chanyeol's not good at physical fighting.  
  
He picks the former. That is _definitely_ a good choice.  
  
Chanyeol's surprised when Baekhyun closes the gap between them. His eyes pop open and all of a sudden the room is even warmer than his body, mostly because Baekhyun's close—too close as he invades Chanyeol's personal space to the point that he can feel his breath lingering between them.  _Is he drunk?_  
  
"You know..." Baekhyun drawls in his ear as he trails a finger over Chanyeol's arm. His touch is ghostly and light and Chanyeol only grips the counter, feeling the shiver creep up his skin as Baekhyun looks up at him with hooded eyes. "Us meeting again, I don't think it's accidental."  
  
Chanyeol licks his lower lip and tries not to stare at Baekhyun's lips dangerously close to the corner of his mouth. "Yeah?" he prods, his voice trembling.  
  
Baekhyun's mouth curls into a small smirk. He lifts his right knee and drags it upward until it's caressing the insides of Chanyeol's thighs. Chanyeol whimpers lowly, feeling Baekhyun press himself harder against him and shuts his eyes. "I think it's fate."  
  
"It might as well be," Chanyeol says weakly like a joke, but the way Baekhyun touches his cheek lightly and meets his gaze is devastatingly captivating.  
  
"I'd like to kiss you right now," Baekhyun whispers softly, which honestly is the unfortunate truth. Chanyeol's heart soars against his chest, and all he can say in his head is a chorus of  _yes, yes, yes_  as Baekhyun pulls him down by the collar and kisses him.  
  
Their first kiss is soft and gentle, just a simple press of lips with hesitance lingering between them. When they pull away with bated breaths, they've got that look in their eyes mixed with curiosity, confusion and desperation as they want more than just a simple kiss. They've got different thoughts running through their minds at the moment, but all they just really want is a repeat.  
  
Chanyeol finally gives in and captures Baekhyun's mouth again. He can't help but feel intoxicated. His hands move to grip Baekhyun's waist, pulls him closer as if he's going to vanish like thin air in a second. Chanyeol coaxes Baekhyun's mouth open and slips his tongue easily, licking at the roof of his mouth like he's testing waters. Baekhyun lets out a soft whimper as Chanyeol nibbles on his lower lip, and the sound of it prods Chanyeol to kiss him even harder.  
  
"You're so hot," Baekhyun mumbles truthfully. He's lost in the kiss, forgotten about his purpose.  
  
"Yeah, I really am," Chanyeol says, meaning it literally. His body feels even hotter, like an energy tank ready to explode, but he's not quite sure if it's just Baekhyun's doing.  
  
Baekhyun circles his arms around Chanyeol's neck and yanks him nearer, his hips rutting against Chanyeol's. The bulge on Chanyeol's jeans is unmistakable and Chanyeol's hands cop his ass and make their way down to his thighs, hoisting him up until his legs are around Chanyeol's waist. Baekhyun throws his head back with a needy moan as Chanyeol turns around and presses Baekhyun down the counter, his right hand settling to caress the side of Baekhyun's thigh.  
  
This is a  _job_.  
  
But Baekhyun would really like to get fucked against the counter even if it isn't entirely a bright idea at the moment. He pulls away, his smile gleaming. Chanyeol's too distracted, his mouth attached to Baekhyun's neck as he sucks a beautiful bruise in it. "My room's available," Baekhyun mumbles breathlessly.  
  
Chanyeol's head is in a frenzy of thoughts, like he's alarmingly drunk with just a taste of Baekhyun's lips after finally letting the heat in his body take over him. His body is reacting so badly because of Baekhyun, his feverishness making him dizzy.  
  
"Alright, let's go," Chanyeol finally heeds and Baekhyun only presses one light kiss earnestly against Chanyeol's mouth as a reply.  
  
  
  
Chanyeol doesn't remember how they got back to Baekhyun's room but he eventually finds himself pressed against the back of the door by a very eager Baekhyun hovering close to him.  
  
It's an understatement to say that Chanyeol hasn't dreamt of doing this ever since he's seen Baekhyun, but the moment they close the gap between them, Chanyeol feels like his heart's bursting all over again. His head's starting to hurt, eyesight blurring, but Baekhyun is doing that wonderful thing as he traces his tongue and sucks at Chanyeol's bottom lip and  _fuck_.  
  
Baekhyun's fingers slowly work their way to unbutton Chanyeol's shirt, his other hand roaming all over the other's chest, but Chanyeol's impatient and aggressive enough to get him out of his own clothing and accidentally pops the remaining buttons off with one swift tug.  
  
"Shit," Chanyeol mumbles. That was one of his favorite shirts, damn it. But when he looks up, Baekhyun's mouth is slick with spit and his eyes are clouded with lust as he bites on his bottom lip. "You're so beautiful," Chanyeol says hazily, pushing him backwards until they've switched positions. His jeans have become uncomfortably tight now as he grinds against Baekhyun's hips, already feeling Baekhyun's dick against his own.  
  
Baekhyun's grip in his hair tightens as they continue to rut against each other, his labored breathing echoing against Chanyeol's ears. Chanyeol starts nibbling at the side of his jaw, his body slacking a little, holding Baekhyun down with the support of the wall.  
  
They don't say much anymore like it's a mutual agreement as Baekhyun pushes him forward.  
  
"Bed," he hisses and Chanyeol only stumbles woozily, pulling him for a few sloppy kisses as they fall back to the mattress. Once his head hits the pillow, Chanyeol's head becomes even heavier, his eyelids drooping. Baekhyun doesn't notice it as he makes his way down to Chanyeol's chest, trailing his mouth over the exposed skin until his dainty fingers reach the buckle of Chanyeol's pants.  
  
It isn't until he looks up that he finally finds Chanyeol completely knocked out on the pillow, his breathing finally slowing down.  
  
" _What the fuck_ ," Baekhyun exclaims, sounding extremely pissed. He huffs and puts his hand on his waist, still stuck in a very compromising position with his legs on either side of Chanyeol and his hips a few centimeters away from Chanyeol's crotch. “You’re kidding me, right?” he says unbelievingly.  
  
But Chanyeol looks peaceful, his chest heaving up and down in perfect rhythm and his eyelashes looking dangerously beautiful against his lids. It's such a pity that his mouth looks thoroughly kissed at the moment. Baekhyun sighs defeatedly.  
  
"Chanyeol?" he calls out. Chanyeol doesn't budge, completely unresponsive. "You know I was really saving the knocking out thing for last, but alright." He pats Chanyeol's cheeks lightly and that's when he feels it—Chanyeol's burning up with a goddamn fever and he didn't even notice it at all while he's caught up in their own heated moment.  
  
“You idiot. Why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well?" Baekhyun groans but he’s looking at Chanyeol fondly, his heart stammering out of his chest.  _This is so unprofessional_ , Baekhyun thinks as he brushes his hand against Chanyeol’s sweaty forehead. It would have been really nice if they hadn’t met this way.  
  
After finally tucking Chanyeol into bed and putting a cold towel in his forehead, Baekhyun brushes his lips against Chanyeol’s cheek. “Good night,” he whispers.  
  
It takes him three hours of contemplating before coming into his senses.  _Don’t let your emotions cloud your judgement. This is a very dangerous criminal lying in your bed._ Baekhyun hesitantly takes Andromeda off of Chanyeol, placing it back in his own vault. He reaches out for the handcuffs in his pocket, carefully grabs Chanyeol’s arm before cuffing it on the bed frame.  
  
In a different type of situation, this would’ve been extremely promising for the two of them.  
  
Except Baekhyun is really just doing his job and arresting a seemingly innocent and lovely guy asleep underneath his sheets. He calls Minseok back and tells him, “I got the target.”  
  
"Is he awake?"  
  
Baekhyun looks at the giant sleeping like a baby next to him. “No,” Baekhyun says, pausing. “Don’t worry, I have him cuffed. He won’t be able to escape.”  
  
Minseok’s voice is monotonous when he compliments Baekhyun back. “Great work, Agent Byun. I'll send the team to assist you back to Langley."  
  
“Great job,” Baekhyun congratulates himself sarcastically. A good shower and a drink really won’t hurt right now to calm his nerves down, but as he walks toward the bathroom, he sees Chanyeol’s phone lying on the floor.  
  
Right. Kyungsoo and Jongdae. Baekhyun unlocks it to see a portrait of the three grinning widely at a camera, probably taken from their early college days. Chanyeol has a peace sign with his other arm stretched over to Jongdae caught in mid laughter with a cute Kyungsoo squished between them. It’s really a wonder how these three ended up being professional robbers.  
  
He looks over Chanyeol on the bed and does something extremely out of his character. _Got sick. Baekhyun’s taking care of me. Don’t worry_ , he types, and then sends it to Kyungsoo.  
  
  
  
Chanyeol wakes up only to find himself sitting inside a plane with his hands cuffed on either sides of the armrests. His eyes widen, mind whirling to think of how exactly did he get here—but all he can recall is Baekhyun’s lips all over his and his hotel room and— _oh_.  
  
This can’t be it.  _No, no—Baekhyun isn’t… he shouldn’t be…_  
  
Chanyeol stays completely frozen, shutting his eyes tightly as he hears loud footsteps coming toward him.  
  
The voices seem a little muffled together with the sound of engine whirring, and Chanyeol tilts his head a little to the side to hear more. It feels like he can hear everything at once: his own heartbeat pulsating, the ragged breaths of people sleeping somewhere in the plane, the sound of someone maneuvering the aircraft and a very familiar voice inching closer and closer.  
  
The unfamiliar voice says questioningly, “Did you drug him? It’s been hours and he’s still dead asleep.”  
  
The conversation isn’t exactly a very decent one, but it perks Chanyeol’s interest as soon as he recognizes Baekhyun's voice. "God, no. We only had a few drinks. I didn't think he was a lightweight, but halfway through... a  _situation_  happened and he passed out."  
  
The other person cuts him off with a chuckle like he knows exactly what it means. “So you did plan to fuck him in the end.”  
  
“Shut up, we didn’t even get that far,” Baekhyun snaps and if Chanyeol’s not mistaken, there’s a glint of regret in his voice. “Don’t ever mention what you found in my hotel room to anyone else, Jongin.”  
  
“Alright, I’ll pretend I didn’t just watch you nurse a very dangerous criminal before letting me take him away.”  
  
Chanyeol tries not to react to that.  _What does that even mean?_  He tries to remember the night before (and tries not to go back to that familiar voice moaning against his ear) and groans accidentally after realizing that he passed out in the middle of a _very_ good time.  
  
“Shhhh,” Baekhyun shushes Jongin, another agent in his team and stalks forward. He nudges Chanyeol’s arm. Chanyeol tries very hard not to let his eyes slip open. “Come on, I know you’re awake,” Baekhyun says.  
  
“I’m not,” Chanyeol snaps back. “I honestly would rather not to.”  
  
“Go busy yourself for a moment, Jongin,” Baekhyun says, pushing the taller boy away from him.  
  
Jongin only laughs, his voice twinkling with amusement before saying, “Roger, agent.”  
  
“Okay.” Baekhyun proceeds to sit across him. “I’m sure you know why you’re here.”  
  
Chanyeol slowly opens his eyes, seeing a very fidgety Baekhyun in a suit and tie avoiding his stare. He really wasn’t prepared for this and his chest feels heavy when he speaks. “I don’t, actually. I just know that you lied to me. Artist, huh?” he mumbles bitterly.  
  
Baekhyun sits up defensively. “It wasn’t just me who lied.” Baekhyun scowls, crossing his arms like a child throwing a fit. “You were caught in the act, Chanyeol. I got the Andromeda from you myself. You can’t get out of this even if you want to.”  
  
“How long have you known?” is just what he really wants to ask.  
  
Baekhyun doesn’t reply for a moment, just plays with his fingers. His voice come out dejected when he admits, “When we were dancing in Beijing. You couldn't keep your eyes off of Song Qian.”  
  
“You  _knew_  all this time?”  
  
“Yes,” Baekhyun says hesitantly. "You made one mistake, Chanyeol. You told me your real name when you weren't supposed to.”  
  
“So that’s how you found me?”  
  
Baekhyun nods solemnly. "Yeah, I guess."   
  
“I see,” Chanyeol says, slouching back into his seat. “I honestly didn’t expect that date to be a very well planned trap.”  
  
“It wasn’t! Well, it was but—“ Baekhyun feels the need to explain himself, as if he really needs to. It was a job, he keeps telling himself, but ends up saying, “I’m sorry. Capturing you and Andromeda was my mission.”  
  
Chanyeol thinks about Jongdae and Kyungsoo back in Seoul, probably worried sick over him. This is his entire fault—if he wasn’t stupid enough and just listened to Kyungsoo, maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t find himself here and put his friends in danger. “What about my friends?”  
  
“About that…” Baekhyun pauses, looking around to see who else is close to them. “I sort of left their information out.”  
  
That piques Chanyeol’s interest. “What?”  
  
“They don’t know that much yet at the moment. At least for now,” Baekhyun says rapidly, not meeting his eyes. Before Chanyeol can even ask why he’s doing that, Baekhyun’s already up. He purses his lips and says, “Make yourself comfortable.”  
  
Chanyeol looks at his wrists and sighs. He doesn’t seem hurt in any way, just detained in this seat until they land in god knows where. It’s just… the fact that it was Baekhyun who put him in this exact spot is not very enlightening. He supposes he’ll get caught anyway one of these days, but damn it he really thought Baekhyun was the one.  
  
 _Suck it up_ , Park Chanyeol, he tells himself before hitting the back of his head against his seat with a groan.  
  
  
  
The thing about being in a team like Chanyeol’s is that most of the time, they do try to not leave anyone behind.  
  
That is why Jongin is met with two incredibly short flight attendants on his way to the other half of the plane. The first one’s wearing big circle shaped glasses that compliment his own pair of big eyes, and the other one with a strong jaw and very long eyelashes is sporting a very weird looking mustache. If Jongin was being honest, he hadn’t seen them board the plane with them, but sometimes the private planes the CIA hires can be quite as sneaky as them anyway.  
  
“Hey,” he greets them casually.  
  
Surprised, Kyungsoo only fakes a very creepy accommodating smile that has Jongdae trying to hold in his laughter. He sounds constipated with the way he’s forcing his voice. “Yes?” he says politely.  
  
Jongin purses his lips. He looks so suspicious that behind him, Jongdae’s slowly taking out his gun from his backside. Jongin leans closer while Kyungsoo catches the silver glimmering on Jongin’s side and tenses his shoulders. The question that comes afterward is totally what he didn’t expect. “Do you know where they stack up the food in here? I’m really hungry.”  
  
“Oh,” Kyungsoo says and Jongdae immediately tucks his gun back. He signals Jongdae to leave before holding Jongin by the arm, making the younger boy flustered as he leads him toward the staff area. “This way, sir. We have lots of options on board.”  
  
“Great,” Jongin agrees immediately, caught off guard by Kyungsoo’s very adorable face and follows him shortly.  
  
“Idiots,” Jongdae mumbles quietly, laughing. He adjusts the fake mustache and strides forward. They’ve sneaked into the plane and eventually knocked the original flight attendants out—all thanks to Kyungsoo’s death grip, of course; they passed out shortly before Kyungsoo could muster his worst headlock. There are only a few agents on board counting the one Kyungsoo just led away and that long and flat faced guy with the not so proportionate body dead asleep in the cargo area because of their tranquilizer guns.  
  
The plane is not exactly that big so Jongdae finds Chanyeol long enough after that. From the corner of his eyes, he sees Baekhyun curled and asleep a few seats from his friend. He slows down, making sure that no one else’s around before moving past Chanyeol and tossing a pin straight to his hand. Chanyeol looks up at him, puzzled before sighing a breath of relief as soon as he sees Jongdae wriggling his forehead with a crinkling smile.  
  
His task is to make sure that no one in the pilot’s cabin is capable of fighting them. After sliding the curtains open, he takes his gun out and immediately shoots the person sitting on the maneuver. “Sorry,” Jongdae says, catching him before he falls to the floor. A very handsome face conked out in his arms meets him. He slowly puts him down on the side, propping him so he won’t fall before coming face to face with the cockpit instruments.  
  
Jongdae’s knowledge of airplanes only go so far as playing flight games in his PS4 back home. It was supposed to be Kyungsoo in here, not him. Sure, he can play around the mechanical components of the aircraft but flying?  _No way_. But his friends are out there, relying on him to do something. Jongdae sighs and thinks here goes nothing and pulls on one of the sticks. The plane only slides to the left and rumbles like it’s on a very dangerous turbulence.  
  
Jongdae pales a little. “This is  _so_  not fun.”  
  
  
  
Baekhyun immediately jolts up as soon as he feels the shaking of the plane, almost going off balance. His eyes directly go to Chanyeol, who might not have noticed and continued to try and get himself out of the handcuffs with a pin with his tongue between his lips.  
  
“We’re currently going through a turbulence,” he hears the speakers go off and that is  _definitely_ not Joonmyun’s voice. Baekhyun grabs his gun and runs toward Chanyeol, cocking it dangerously in front of him and accusingly gasps, “Are you trying to escape?” which was, at the moment, very obvious.  
  
Chanyeol is going to have a heart attack. “Well, yes I am,” Chanyeol says in panic, “I mean—no, of course not?”  
  
“I’m not going to hesitate and shoot you if you move,” Baekhyun warns, not even half meaning it unless if Chanyeol really attempts to hurt him which is honestly not something he thinks Chanyeol would attempt to do.  
  
Chanyeol gulps, staring at the hypnotic hole of Baekhyun’s gun as he holds his still entrapped hands up. He _really_ doesn’t like guns. “Whatever happened to settling things with words?” he says weakly.  
  
"Shut up, you’re the one who said that.”  
  
Chanyeol freaks out. Honestly, he doesn’t even know if he trusts Baekhyun that much. Or if he should. For all he knows, Baekhyun might be a very well trained assassin. Chanyeol’s head gets filled with images of his body thrown into the Pacific Ocean or something. That's fucking scary. “What about never liking guns?" he tries hopefully.  
  
"I'm an agent,” Baekhyun tells him cynically, furrowing his eyebrows. “Of course I love guns.”  
  
"I'm such an idiot. Here I thought you actually liked me,” Chanyeol mutters under his breath and then asks again in disbelief, “Are you really going to shoot me?”  
  
“Well, maybe?” Baekhyun starts, thinking of anything just to scare Chanyeol off. He really isn’t going to act on it—but before he can say anything else, Chanyeol yanks his hands up and brings both the armrest he’s cuffed in, running toward the other side of the plane.  
  
“What the fuck,” Baekhyun exclaims, eyes wide and still not sure whether what he saw just happened. Did Chanyeol really just ruin that with the strength of his arms?  
  
“I didn’t think I was that strong,” Chanyeol yells back, sounding very guilty and not exactly like a very dangerous criminal. “Shit. I’m not paying to fix that, either! It was your fault for scaring me!”  
  
“ _What are you?"_  is what Baekhyun only hisses next, following after him with his gun still ready. Chanyeol ducks again, the armrests still heavy in his hands. He only touches the metal with his fingers, attempting to loosen it up around his aching wrists, and obviously doesn’t expect it to melt in his fingertips. He frees his hands with a hard pinch on the chains connecting them.  
  
Chanyeol’s in shock because _what the fuck did I just do_. “What did you do to me?” he squeaks back and throws the two heavy weights on the opposite side of Baekhyun. “Did you attempt to turn me into a monster while I was asleep?”  
  
“I did when you were awake, you fucking idiot,” Baekhyun answers back hotly, both of them flushing. Chanyeol tries to break out into a run after that with Baekhyun coming after him until of course, he fucking trips over the things he threw on his own.  
  
“Ow,” he groans, holding his knee as he writhes on the floor and if Baekhyun didn’t know better, he’d really wonder how this became one of the most wanted robbers in the world. He’s really just a clumsy idiot that Baekhyun refuse to admit liking so much. God, he's so charmed it's not even funny anymore.  
  
He crouches next to Chanyeol, putting his gun away. His voice is gentle when he says, “Are you okay?”  
  
“Noooo,” Chanyeol whines like a child and honestly, it isn’t the time to laugh, but Baekhyun finds himself chuckling at Chanyeol’s misery. This is all so ironic. Instead of immediately turning Chanyeol around and bringing him back to his seat, this time even more securely, he’s here helping him out to stand up as he winces in pain. Baekhyun’s completely fucked.  
  
“Just sit down, alright? Cooperate with me here you idiot,” Baekhyun fusses, still holding on to his waist. For a second, he meets Chanyeol’s gaze, and a flashback of last night’s event cloud their minds. Baekhyun’s cheeks turn pink as he steps away. “Can we talk about last night?” he says breathlessly, but Chanyeol’s eyes suddenly flicker behind him, his face mortified.  
  
“What are you—“  
  
“You two lovebirds talk too much,” Kyungsoo says, appearing behind Baekhyun with a syringe before plunging it in his neck. Baekhyun turns around and looks at him in horror, eyes fluttering wildly, and Chanyeol strides close just in time to catch an unconscious Baekhyun in his arms. "That'll be a complete trip back to Seoul, Agent Byun."  
  
Chanyeol looks at him with his jaw dropped. "That was evil."  
  
An excited Jongdae clasps both palms over his friends' shoulders. He quirks his eyebrows at Kyungsoo. “But it was _awesome_."  
  
Kyungsoo ignores the both of them and turns on his heel. “Everyone in the pilot’s cabin now.”  
  
Chanyeol hauls Baekhyun on one of the chairs, carefully strapping him down with the seatbelt. The other two look at him with puzzled stares, but Chanyeol only holds a hand up and says, "Don't."  
  
Jongdae only shrugs. "I wasn't going to say anything."  
  
Chanyeol eyes him with an eyebrow raised. "You should get rid of that," he says, pointing at Jongdae's uneven mustache. "You look like your old man."  
  
"Oh," Jongdae says, laughing as he peels it away. "Thanks."   
  
Once they get in the cabin, Kyungsoo pats the pilot's chair and says, “Sit down, dumbass.”  
  
Chanyeol gulps and fakes a short lived laugh. “How’d you guys find me?”  
  
“Tracker on your watch. It’s not that hard to figure out when you’re suddenly going to the airport at four in the morning,” Kyungsoo answers coldly and takes out his phone to show Chanyeol a message. “And this.”  
  
“Everyone knows you don’t type like that,” Jongdae snickers. As much as it gets on their nerves, Chanyeol has this thing with emojis and emoticons that definitely doesn’t sound as stoic as that. In fact, his last message might as well have been _SICK BUT MIGHT GET LAID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_ added with a handful of crazy emojis and maybe a dancing lady in red.  
  
“Oh,” Chanyeol says sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. Kyungsoo’s face definitely doesn’t look too pleased. He sighs and finally says, “I’m sorry I made you two worry.”  
  
Kyungsoo shakes his head and punches his arm hardly, but his shoulders are finally relaxed. Chanyeol grins up at him despite the throbbing pain he has in his arm and leg. “Will you just please listen to me next time? My guts are usually right.”  
  
“I’m really sorry,” Chanyeol says again guiltily.  
  
“It’s alright,” Jongdae quips. “It’s not like we didn’t just knock out a bunch of government agents.”  
  
“CIA, actually,” Kyungsoo informs them.  
  
“How’d you know?” Chanyeol gasps, a little baffled. Baekhyun being a CIA agent is just… actually very intimidating. Hot. Kyungsoo lifts his hand and flashes them Jongin’s badge.  
  
“We’re in a lot of trouble, aren’t we?” Jongdae asks, nibbling on his lower lip.  
  
“Yeah, we are,” Kyungsoo says, sighing. “But first we should figure out how to actually fly this thing before we crash and die.”  
  
Chanyeol glances at his side and sees the dead reckoning saying they’re only 900 miles away from Seoul. The aeronautical charts flashes numbers and unfamiliar English words and if it isn’t strange enough, Chanyeol confidently thinks he understands and knows how to fly a plane. “I can do it,” he says.  
  
“But you’ve never piloted a plane before,” Kyungsoo says, looking at him weirdly.  
  
“I might have read a couple books about it back in freshman year,” Chanyeol says as if that’s enough to be able to navigate a plane. He pauses a little and adds thoughtfully, “And I played a lot PS4 with Jongdae.”  
  
Kyungsoo grumbles at him. “That doesn’t qualify.”  
  
Chanyeol frowns at him. “Would you prefer to not try at all?” And Kyungsoo keeps quiet.  
  
“Alright. I’ll trust you on this one,” Jongdae says, putting a hand in his shoulder. “Just make sure we get back home safely.”  
  
Chanyeol grins back at them. There’s this nagging suspicion formulating in his head on why he’s suddenly acting this way but for now, he tucks it safely at the corner of his mind. “Please put on your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy ride back home."  
  
  
  
So maybe they’re really terrible at being tactical and doing last minute decisions.  
  
Technically the plan was to land safely, ditch the aircraft and somehow make their way out of the airport while the rest of the people stay unconscious. However, it’s not always that simple and things don’t always go as planned as the three face an army of armed men once they get down the plane.  
  
“Guns,” Jongdae murmurs, laughing weakly. They can try and break into a run, but with the number of guns aimed at them, Jongdae doesn’t think that’s a very wise decision. So instead, he holds his hands up. “I’d really prefer it if you didn’t use those.”  
  
Kyungsoo’s glaring at everyone, murmuring a string of profanities under his breath while the men cuff their hands behind their backs. “Not this again,” Chanyeol groans disappointedly. The men move forward and point their gun at them. Chanyeol thinks it’s silly. “That’s actually very unnecessary. One of you could just accidentally shoot, you know. “  
  
A man who’s wearing a sleek black suit steps up to them and takes off his sunglasses suavely. Somehow they feel a little underdressed with the matching black sweats and shirts they changed into from Jongdae’s backpack. The runway is busy with another plane landing but Chanyeol still hears Kyungsoo hissing, “Stupid CIAs and their obsession with fashion.”  
  
“I think we have a lot to talk about, Mr. Park,” the man says, smiling at them. He’s so baby faced, his cheeks looking so soft and cute but his mouth is curling ruthlessly at them. Oddly enough, he does resemble a very handsomely dressed rodent ready to bite. “Kim Minseok. I handle Operation Andromeda.”  
  
“I’d shake your hand but I can’t exactly do that at the moment,” Chanyeol replies with a short laugh, wriggling his wrists in his back. He remembers what happened with the metal earlier, burning in his fingertips and melting in just a fraction of seconds. It’s weird, really, and theoretically impossible to do since you don’t normally just go  _Oh, it’s alright. I’ll just melt off the metals in my hand_  but Chanyeol doesn’t care at the moment. There’s only one priority right now: save his friends and flee.  
  
Chanyeol closes his eyes, concentrating, and presses his fingers tight against the chains. _Please work_ , he pleads to god knows who and smiles contentedly when he feels it coming. His hands are finally warming up again, but this time, it isn’t a painful burn—instead it’s like simply heating up his hands on a cold winter night. He holds the cuffs in his fingers carefully just before they make a soft clink.  
  
Everyone else doesn’t notice immediately except for Kyungsoo and Jongdae, who really have a knack of figuring out when something’s off with Chanyeol. Chanyeol laughs very loudly, shifting to get closer to his friends.  
  
Minseok squints at him. “What did you do to Andromeda, Mr. Park?”  
  
“Nothing,” Chanyeol says, shifting his eyes away. Kyungsoo and Jongdae stare at him like he really does have a secret to keep. “What? It’s safely kept by Agent Byun inside your plane.”  
  
Minseok raises an eyebrow. “I think you know what I’m referring to.”  
  
“You really shouldn’t be so uptight,” Chanyeol says defensively, changing the topic. “Loosen up a little, will you?” He sighs, taps his foot three times. It’s code for Escape Now which literally means fighting with their chained hands and diving to death. Jongdae knits his eyebrows together and Kyungsoo narrows his eyes at him and says a firm, “No.”  
  
Chanyeol makes a very weird face with his lips pursed, his eyes widening and his eyebrows wriggling together, tapping his foot continuously. “Trust me,” he mouths.  
  
Jongdae only laughs at him, sounding a little hopeless. “You’re kidding us, right?”  
  
Minseok watches them with amusement all over his face because Chanyeol’s weakness is definitely subtlety. It’s obvious what they’re trying to do, but Minseok lets them anyway with a small chuckle. Chanyeol looks so stupid that it's fascinating to watch.  
  
It’s Chanyeol who starts the attack, kicking the nearest guard unconscious before moving to the next one. A punch comes flying toward him but Chanyeol quickly dodges, grabbing his opponent’s gun and accidentally breaking it in his head. Another man comes from his behind, putting him on chokehold and in sheer panic Chanyeol grabs his arm. Electricity sparkles in his fingertips and the man yells in pain, feeling the current transfer to his body until he’s completely knocked out on the ground.  
  
“Shit,” he mumbles, staring at the unconscious man. Everyone’s gazes turn toward him. “I absolutely didn’t mean to do that.”  
  
For a moment, his friends just stare, looking at the broken gun and the slight burn in the man’s arm before coming to their senses and helping him. Maybe they have a chance after all. The thing is that Jongdae and Kyungsoo have always been better at him at fighting, mostly because they’re short and agile and don’t have uncooperative limbs that sometimes cause more trouble than they should so it’s easier to overpower the guards.  
  
Chanyeol hoists Kyungsoo up by holding his waist just in time for him to kick two guns aimed at them while Jongdae finishes the job and knocks them out with his chained fists. Chanyeol musters all his strength and breaks off the handcuffs from their wrists and Jongdae only mumbles a whiny, “You just started lifting last week. How’d you do _that_?”  
  
A gun clicks behind them and Chanyeol finds himself staring at Jongdae with a red dot on his forehead. He looks at Kyungsoo on his side who has one too.  
  
“Don’t worry,” Kyungsoo says, gritting his teeth. “You’re not missing out.”  
  
He sees the light flicker and move past his eyesight and Chanyeol feels his lungs get emptied with air. Yeah, definitely not missing out.  
  
“Just as expected,” Minseok says, his jaw tensing. He looks at the burn in one of his men’s arm. “You really managed to infuse the powers in your body.”  
  
"What?" Kyungsoo stares at Chanyeol doubtfully. “What does that mean?”  
  
“Andromeda stores the greatest powers our scientists created and your friend here managed to take them out,” Minseok explains and points at Chanyeol. “Technically,  _he_  is the super weapon.”  
  
“Greatest powers?” Jongdae says, doing an air quote with his fingers. “Like superhero stuff?”  
  
“Like the ones you see in movies,” Minseok says, tipping his head to the side.   
  
“Oh, that explains the _abnormally_ super strength,” Jongdae replies, pale faced, looking at Chanyeol who’s grinning at him nervously. He really wants to say _that’s so fucking amazing_ but the mood is such a downer and there are snipers somewhere ready to kill.  
  
It takes Chanyeol a few moments to process all the information in his head. So it is true—this finally confirms all the suspicions he has but if he’s going to be really honest with himself, it doesn’t sound as exciting as figuring out you’ve become a superhero overnight. It obviously comes with a cost. “What do you want?”  
  
“I want you to work for me,” Minseok states simply. “We need to figure out Andromeda’s potential.”  
  
“What’s in it for me?”  
  
“Well, you can choose to escape now but I have my men at your sister’s,” Minseok warns. He did _not_ just do that. Chanyeol would really want to punch his cute little face. “And I’m sure you wouldn’t like your head blown off bloody tonight.”  
  
Chanyeol takes a deep breath and shuts his eyes. He thinks of Yoora and remembers how devastating it had been when they’d lost their parents and how he pledged that he wouldn’t let her cry anymore, or Jongdae’s family with his perky parents that adore him and Jongdeuk who treats him like he’s his own brother, and Kyungsoo’s nice mother just waiting for them to come and visit. Three deaths are not worthy of rebelling against something this big. His friends are looking at him expectantly when he opens his eyes. “Okay,” he says, and sees his friends breathe out in relief. "I have three conditions though.”  
  
“Let me hear them,” Minseok says accommodatingly, putting his gun away as he takes out a file from his messenger bag.  
  
“You’re gonna clear us of all charges,” Chanyeol says. “All of our crimes expunged—none of them will trace back to us and you’ll make sure that everyone close to us is safe.” He pauses, pointing a thumb toward his friends. “And oh, I can’t work without them.”  
  
“Alright,” Minseok replies easily and holds out his other hand like a signal before the red dots disappear.  
  
“That fast?” Chanyeol prods, grinning now. “No catch at all?”  
  
“We did steal a lot, you know,” Jongdae reminds him. “And maybe committed a lot of felony against your CIA team.”  
  
“Shut up you two,” Kyungsoo snaps. “You better not take your word back.”  
  
Minseok laughs at them. “It’s such a wonder how you three even got this far,” he comments, which is probably the usual consensus for them. He holds out a black folder with a symbol similar to a phoenix indented on it, its color reminding Chanyeol of the smoke Andromeda used to have before he accidentally acquired its power. Chanyeol takes it, his chest thumping crazily. “Unfortunately, we _need_ you, Park Chanyeol. This has all the information you need about Andromeda and your mission.”  
  
“Operation Phoenix,” Chanyeol reads. He’s not going to admit it in front of Minseok, but it definitely sounds cool. He can’t help the grin spreading on his face.  
  
“I like the ring of that,” Jongdae quips, cackling as he reaches for a high five with Chanyeol. “It makes us sound like some badass team.”  
  
“We _are_ a badass team,” Chanyeol corrects him, laughing.  
  
“Your first mission is in Los Angeles. Be there on the 24th,” Minseok says as he glances at his watch. “Wake Joonmyun up, will you? I don’t trust your landing skills that much yet.”  
  
“Okay,” Chanyeol says, feeling all pumped already. He opens his arms and squeezes Jongdae and Kyungsoo tightly, who don’t squirm but only welcome him in return. “We’re in.”  
  
“New adventure it is then,” Kyungsoo says and looks at them so fondly, his cheeks hurting from smiling too much.  
  
  
  
 **Los Angeles: September 24, 2014**  
  
Naturally after Joonmyun’s short briefing of the mission and a whole lot of apologizing to the rest of the team, Chanyeol ends up spending the rest of the ride testing out his superpowers (he never knew he could be  _that_  bendy) and even accidentally triggers one of the alarms on board after creating a small fire in his palm. “Shit, that was amazing,” he says breathlessly.  
  
It also doesn’t come as a surprise when he ends up suggesting sky diving and maybe landing cooly down the gigantic Hollywood sign. “Maybe I can fly too,” Chanyeol says.  
  
“You’re not Superman, you idiot. It’s not on the superpowers list,” Kyungsoo says, smacking him at the back of his head as Jongdae scribbles an  _F- on common sense_  on the indentions of the paper.  
  
However, they do end up parachuting their way down a few hours later at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel’s rooftop located in the heart of Los Angeles. They skip the airport in hopes of going unnoticed by the other agencies who are not involved with Andromeda with an unusually quiet Baekhyun in tow.  
  
“We should do this often,” Jongdae howls as soon as his feet touch the ground, feeling exhilarated. “That was sick.”  
  
“ _I_  am going to be sick,” Chanyeol says, looking white as sheet despite him wanting to do it earlier. It appears that extra courage doesn’t come with Andromeda.  
  
“We’ve got no time,” Baekhyun says, looking at his watch. Darkness is already creeping in and the fashion show they’re supposed to invade is starting in an hour. Tonight, they’ve got to capture one of the suspected members of EXO, a dangerous group that’s after Andromeda. “Huang Zitao is already in the premise.” He averts his gaze to Chanyeol, who’s surprised that Baekhyun’s even addressing him. They haven’t exactly talked yet. “What’s the plan?”  
  
“What plan?”  
  
“The plan Joonmyun told you to create while we were on our way here,” Baekhyun says, eyes narrowed with confusion. “You did think of one, right?”  
  
“About that…” Chanyeol laughs nervously. “We spent most of our time practicing my skills.”  
  
Baekhyun growls at him. “We can’t just barge in and arrest him.”  
  
“We’ll make something up along the way,” Chanyeol says defensively.  
  
"Well, bad news, lover boy. We’re going to end up dead and screwed up if you don’t think of anything soon,” Baekhyun hisses.  
  
“I’m sorry I don’t plan everything down to every detail unlike you,” Chanyeol snaps back.  
  
“Oooh, shots fired,” Jongdae whistles and gives an amused Kyungsoo a low five.  
  
Baekhyun only huffs in reply. In his defense, he already asked for Joonmyun to take him out of the mission but since he wasn’t able to come up with a detailed report on how he really got Chanyeol, his punishment now is to make up for the ambushing in the plane. Besides, he’s the best field agent in his team anyway. He tries not to let Chanyeol affect his work and urges them to follow him instead.  
  
  
  
Out of all the events a dangerous criminal could be in, a high-class fashion show is definitely not what they expected.  
  
“I am not going to wear that thing,” is Kyungsoo’s reply the moment they stumble inside the dressing rooms. Apparently, Chanyeol’s bright idea includes blending in with the crowd backstage to get better access to Zitao and stealing dresses from the rack of clothes. For the nth time, Kyungsoo considers maybe kneeing Chanyeol in the dick to remind him that he does have one too. He glares at the provocative dress hanging on Chanyeol’s arm and shudders horrifiedly.  
  
“It’s the easiest way,” Chanyeol says, trying to hold in his laughter. “If it makes you feel better, I have one too.”  
  
“And me too. We're all in this together,” Jongdae adds, coming from his behind wearing a very tight and red qipao. He flashes them a playful peace sign. “I look great, don’t I?”  
  
“Smoking hot,” Chanyeol says, winking at him. “You look like an emoji character. Try not to walk too wide, though. It’s better without your leg hairs.”  
  
Jongdae pretends to get flustered, fans himself shyly and hits his arm intentionally. Jongdae’s knuckles are too bony and it still hurts. They look at Kyungsoo with mirrored grins.  
  
“We’ll never talk about this ever again,” Kyungsoo finally gives up and stomps away with the dress in hand.  
  
It turns out that Kyungsoo does rock the outfit. He comes out wearing the black dress with puffy sleeves, making him look like a very tiny evil witch with the dip of his lips accentuated with a pout. All he needs is a wand and a cast to curse on everyone and he’ll be set. Chanyeol and Jongdae who are good friends obviously don’t tell him that. Instead, they both chorus: “You look pretty.”  
  
“Not helpful,” Kyungsoo says dejectedly, adjusting the ribbon on his waist. He looks up with flushed cheeks to see Chanyeol sporting a leotard print dress and instantly cracks up. He looks like a gangly Yoora with his short hair swept to the side. “What is that horrendous thing?”  
  
Baekhyun slides into the booth they’re hiding onto with a striped shirt, khaki shorts and an innocent Staff I.D. hanging on his neck. “I just saw Zitao fretting outside—“ he pauses, taking their outfits in and—“I think those are the dresses he’s looking for. Why are you wearing those?”  
  
“Why are you in that outfit?” Kyungsoo snaps. “Shouldn’t you be squeezing yourself in one of these, too?”  
  
“I knocked out one of the staff,” Baekhyun replies confusedly, as if that’s really the ideal way to do things in here. “It’s the usual protocol.”  
  
Chanyeol feels a little dumb for not even considering it, but then he hears a very whiny voice freaking out over the missing dresses.  
  
“He’s yelling at everyone,” Chanyeol tells them. Jongdae doesn’t stare at his face but his ears and grins. Jongdae bites his tongue and stops himself from teasing his gigantic ears and Chanyeol just rolls his eyes.  
  
“I want to change,” Kyungsoo says gravely. “Get out of your outfit, Agent Byun.”  
  
“ _No_ ,” Baekhyun replies firmly, eyeing his outfit. As much as Baekhyun wants to get in Kyungsoo’s good side, this is definitely not the way to do it. Besides, they’re running out of time. “We have to hurry up,” Baekhyun replies urgently, sliding the curtain of their cramped dressing room.  
  
Chanyeol braces himself and starts cat walking, hips swaying exaggeratedly. He almost trips when he strides too widely. “Come on, Charlie’s Angels,” Chanyeol says jokingly which is not very helpful at the moment. “We have a mission to do.”  
  
Kyungsoo’s face might be turning purple now. “Say that again and I will punch you in the dick.”  
  
Huang Zitao, like them, does not exactly look like a dangerous criminal either. Sure, the Chinese designer’s got pretty scary eyes and a macho built with a perfect tan but when he speaks, it’s soft and whiny and very childlike as he tells Chanyeol, “I’ve been looking for those dresses! Get to the runway right now.”  
  
Chanyeol finds himself being pushed into the runway for the grand finale, and as hilarious as it may seem, ends up walking down with hoots after him. Chanyeol flicks his nonexistent hair and struts exaggeratedly. Behind him, he can already hear a faint  _Oh, I didn’t think you two would be the perfect heights for my dresses_  and Jongdae and Kyungsoo follow suit after him. Chanyeol flashes a smile, scans the room and remembers the crowd’s faces. The Phoenix file had a bunch of photos of the suspected criminals and with his currently enhanced memory (which really just makes him remember everything he’s seen, even if it’s years ago), he can easily tell apart the criminals among the audience.  
  
Eleven guards and two suspected murderers later (he’s read about them before after hacking an American database for fun), Chanyeol spins around to make his way back only to get a hand around his ankle. A very beefy guy whom he suspects is a staff widens his eyes at him and says, “You’re not models!” He looks at Chanyeol’s tiny friends and adds, “We have a specific height requirement!”  
  
The crowd gasps along with Jongdae. “ _Oh my god_ ,” Jongdae exclaims dramatically, flicking his handheld fan as he puts a hand on his waist. Thank god his English’s not that rusty because of those years they spent in Cambridge. “You did not just call me short.”  
  
Right on cue for the ending, Zitao walks into the scene with a gigantic smile and his lips immediately curl into a frown. “What—what are you doing?”  
  
“We’ve been trespassed, sir,” the guy replies sternly.  
  
Zitao’s eyes widen comically, stares at them three for ten long seconds before backing away slowly like he knows exactly what’s up. He breaks into a run just when Jongdae throws the fan to the staff’s face and Chanyeol kicks his chin, making him tumble backwards. Kyungsoo, on the other hand, manages to throw his shoes toward the men coming their way. He slides down to one knee, grabs a gun strapped to his leg and shoots another coming their way.  
  
“Is that—is that a real gun?” Chanyeol screeches, heaving. It’s not only him who freaks out but the rest of the audience lose their shit, trying to run as fast as possible out of the area. The small stampede becomes a hindrance to the other men coming to their directions.  
  
Kyungsoo stares at the gun in his hand and the blood oozing out of the man’s arm. “Shit,” he says, paling a little. “They must have switched ours to real ones.”  
  
“That is so not cool,” Jongdae mumbles. Even in a dress, he’s unrestricted as he aims a high kick on an approaching guy. He dodges when the guy aims a punch at him, swings down and gives him an uppercut. He finishes off with an angry statement. “Who do they think we are? We’re robbers, for goodness sake. Not killers.”  
  
“Shoot the alarm,” Chanyeol yells but a very tall and scary man kicks Kyungsoo’s gun. He’s got a body of a bouncer, towering over Kyungsoo.  _Yikes_. While ducking to avoid the guy’s punch, Kyungsoo slides the gun toward Chanyeol onstage. It misses, falls on the ground and Chanyeol finds himself jumping for it before staring at a rifle pointed toward him.  
  
Chanyeol tries to calm himself with Lamaze breathing, which honestly confuses the guy since Chanyeol looks like he’s giving birth underneath his dress.  
  
“What are you doing?”  
  
“Focusing.” Chanyeol deeply inhales one more time and fucking blows the armed guy away. His face looks like he’s sitting on top of a speeding car, his cheeks violently jiggling. He stumbles and hits a table before finally passing out. “Not bad,” he compliments himself, then ducks as soon as more gunfires ensue, hiding behind the bar.  
  
Like what they usually say, backups are for amateurs. Which is why Chanyeol is terribly freaking out as soon as a rain of bullets graze everything because  _fuck yes they are a bunch of amateurs_  whom Minseok thought didn’t need backups. Apparently it was because they already have Chanyeol, the most powerful man alive, who honestly doesn’t have an idea on what to do at the moment. This isn’t like the rest of their deals—this is diving head first into the sea of death and Chanyeol hopes that his friends have managed to not get hit.  
  
Baekhyun slides next to him and Chanyeol holds his chest, scared out of his wits. The glasses of alcohol above them continue to get blasted off.  
  
“Thank god,” Chanyeol says gladly. “Did you get Zitao?”  
  
“Yes,” Baekhyun says. “I got him down at the back. The others are picking him up.”  
  
A few moments later, Kyungsoo and Jongdae finally join them. “We’ll stay here,” Chanyeol says seriously. “Never leave, alright?”  
  
Baekhyun hits him in the arm. “Have you forgotten you have superpowers?”  
  
“No, but I don’t have complete control over them,” Chanyeol says defensively. “And I’d really prefer to stay here, thank you.”  
  
Kyungsoo shakes his head at him. He turns to Jongdae and orders, “Give me your gun.” He inspects it carefully and starts cackling, his eyes narrowed. “They forgot to switch out this one.”  
  
The other three stare at him as he continues to laugh diabolically. Kyungsoo is a really, really weird fellow.  
  
“What are you planning to do?” Jongdae inquires nervously.  
  
“I am obviously going to shoot everyone,” Kyungsoo says plainly. He closes one eye, focuses on the other as he holds up his gun. “Less casualties, the better. Oh, and one more thing,” he says, grabbing Baekhyun’s gun out of his hand and shoots the fire alarm. “Thanks,” he mumbles and starts shooting.  
  
Baekhyun’s eyebrows rise up to his hairline as the alarm blares off. The water starts sprouting everywhere. “Is he always this trigger-happy?” Baekhyun whispers, grabbing his gun. He joins Kyungsoo and manages to hit two men.  
  
“Well,” Chanyeol says, peers at the targets and watches as Kyungsoo shoot down another man. He gulps and ducks next to Baekhyun. Jongdae does the same. “Yeah. Scary, isn’t it?”  
  
“Thank god we only use tranquilizers,” Jongdae quips.  
  
“It’s alright, I’ve seen worse,” Baekhyun says understandingly. “He’d make a really good agent though.”  
  
Countless of bullets later, they were finally able to leave the holy bar that saved their lives. Zitao is awake, tied in a chair with Sehun and Jongin next to him when they arrive. He’s glaring at Baekhyun, who only gives him a big smile with eyes disappearing. He looks so adorable and harmless, except he has a gun in his hand. Chanyeol sighs longingly.  
  
“Good job, agents,” Joonmyun congratulates. Joonmyun is warm and nice, reminds Chanyeol of nice teachers and getting compliments in preschool. He humorously expects a stamp on his hand to commemorate the successful mission.  
  
“Did he give any leads?” Jongdae asks, slinging his hand over Joonmyun’s shoulders. Joonmyun looks at him, confused, and Jongdae flashes him a cute grin. Kyungsoo and Chanyeol only stifle their cackles.  
  
“Yes,” Joonmyun says, puts his arm away and smiles professionally. Jongdae only pouts at him. “Several, actually.”  
  
Sehun pokes an irritable Zitao. “They recruited me because I travel a lot as a designer,” he explains. “EXO likes to take unexpected people in. They pay a lot so it’s hard not to reject their offers. I only indirectly deal with them, but the last person I negotiated with was apparently the head’s favorite.”  
  
“And who might that be?” Chanyeol prods.  
  
“I’ve never seen him,” Zitao admits gruffly. “I only know his codename’s Bambi.”  
  
“ _Bambi_?”  
  
“Like the animal deer in Disney films.”  
  
“Obviously,” Chanyeol replies back in a mocking voice.  
  
“The last time they’ve communicated was in Amsterdam,” Jongin supplies helpfully. “You might want to start from there.”  
  
“We’re going to Amsterdam?” Kyungsoo says in awe, sounding excited for once as he stares at Jongin.  
  
“Technically not us,  _us_ , but your team—“ Jongin stutters, enunciating with a nervous laugh. He can’t get his eyes off of Kyungsoo in a dress. But then again, nobody can. He looks pretty good in it.  
  
“I know what you mean,” Kyungsoo says sharply, trying not to let his flushed ears do all the telling as he realizes he’s still in the dress. “Can I get my clothes back?”  
  
Meanwhile, Baekhyun scoots forward and slides next to Chanyeol. Everyone’s occupied at the moment and Baekhyun’s voice is barely a whisper. Chanyeol can still hear it though—super hearing does come with a few benefits. “This is becoming really weird, isn’t it?” Baekhyun says inaudibly, making sure it’s only Chanyeol who can hear it.  
  
“Talk to me about it,” Chanyeol whispers back. “There’s a weird invisible tension forming between everyone else.”  
  
“Yeah,” Baekhyun says, glancing at him. He kind of wishes there’s one for them, too. “Can we talk?”  
  
They leave the crowd quietly and end up sitting on the platform, their feet swaying as they look at the mess the event has turned to. They’re not looking at each other, trying their best to come up with something—anything to talk about under the stage lights shining upon them. A few seconds later, Baekhyun starts with an “I’m sorry—“ just in time for Chanyeol to say—“I really shouldn’t have gotten mad.”  
  
“It’s okay,” they both chorus together in a hurry.  
  
“You start first,” Chanyeol relents, gesturing toward Baekhyun with a nimble hand.  
  
Baekhyun inhales, tries to muster up the courage to tell Chanyeol the truth. A guy like him deserves it. “The Beijing encounter? That was randomly planned. I thought you were just some regular guest and you were quite handsome so,” Baekhyun quickly says the last few words. “I didn’t expect you to go after Andromeda even though all the signs already pointed to it. The bathroom, the vent, the weird grabbing pose. It was honestly a dumb mistake,” Baekhyun admits, pursing his lips. “Then I planned to meet you again, mostly because I thought you knew I was CIA before you left. I wanted to get even.”  
  
Chanyeol knits his eyebrows and pouts. “I was so convinced you were harmless,” he says. “You were so tiny and cute.”  
  
“What can I say?” Baekhyun laughs shortly. “It helps a lot at being a good field agent.”  
  
Chanyeol’s most dreaded question comes next. “What about the date?”  
  
“I know I asked a lot about you to maximize the opportunity to make a profile for you.” Baekhyun is touching his mouth with his fingers, like it’s a nervous habit or some sort. “But everything I said was real.”  
  
Chanyeol’s heart soars in his ribcage, the butterflies invading his stomach. “So the…” he pauses, licking his lips. “You know.”  
  
“A cherry topping,” Baekhyun replies, grinning slightly. “Although I wouldn’t really know what could have happened if you didn’t pass out.”  
  
“Apparently my body went through a hibernating phase while Andromeda’s powers sink in,” he replies, a little disheartened. He claps his hands on his lap and says, “Wrong timing. It's terrible. So what now?”  
  
“I think it’s better if we stay friends,” Baekhyun suggests casually, although really, he does like the feeling of Chanyeol’s lips against his and he would very much prefer to hold his hand as they run around in the future. It sounds romantic, but in his line of work, emotions are dangerous liabilities. “National security is always priority.”  
  
Chanyeol nods understandingly. Being with someone on the team just makes missions more dangerous, riskier. Although Chanyeol doesn’t object the idea of potentially taking care of Baekhyun, he doesn’t trust his emotions too well to involve it with work. Not yet at the moment, anyway.  
  
“Friends, then,” Chanyeol says quietly.  
  
They just sit in silence, basking in the aftermath of the conversation before Jongdae pops behind them and says, “We’re leaving soon.”  
  
“Coming,” Chanyeol calls back. He stands up, offers Baekhyun a hand before pulling him up. His hand is starting to warm up again, like Baekhyun’s the cause of electricity surging into his body. Chanyeol takes his hand back and lets it stay behind him.  
  
“By the way…” Baekhyun starts, looking away and starts fiddling with his fake I.D. strap. He takes a few steps forward, leaving Chanyeol anticipating for the rest of his words. “You look really cute in that dress.”  
  
“Oh.” Chanyeol looks up and scratches the back of his neck, trying to slow the blood rushing through to his cheeks. “Thank you, I guess,” Chanyeol replies, a little flattered, but he’s laughing now with the corners of his mouth pulled up into an impossibly bright smile.  
  
Chanyeol thinks that maybe, this whole mission won’t be that bad after all.  
  
He just hopes the fleeting ideas of Byun Baekhyun in his mind will go away before it’s too late.  
  
  
  
Amsterdam ends up as a gigantic ploy, but they did manage to extract information from the set up.  
  
With Chanyeol’s super brain, it’s become easier to patch things up together. Amsterdam is just the starting point. It isn’t a trap, Chanyeol makes sure, just careless mistakes that slipped their enemy’s minds. The clues eventually point them to a lot of locations: there’s one in Madrid, where Chanyeol decodes a message scribbled in invisible ink at Philip IV’s Monument, or the patch of blood on top of the Blue Domed Church in Santorini which might indicate foul play in one of EXO’s meetings. There’s also the sound waves embedded in stolen couple rings from a royal family in Agra, even a similar case with earrings found with an uprising J-pop star named Mimi who eventually ends up smitten with Baekhyun’s charms.  
  
The three months they’ve spent together have been fruitful at best, their relationships slowly building into a tight ring of friendship that’s hard to break. Even Kyungsoo’s complete disregard for Baekhyun has waned, resulting into violent streaks that have become affectionate gestures of some sort. It really just started with a mission that had them wondering if it's the end until Baekhyun volunteered to fight the rest of their opponents and pleaded for them to run.  
  
“What do you mean leave you behind?” Kyungsoo had said then, looking at him as if he’s the stupidest person around. Kyungsoo could be cold, but he wasn't heartless.  
  
“What?” Baekhyun managed to croak out, a bullet missing an inch to hit his arm.  
  
“You’re in my team,” Kyungsoo clarified firmly and Baekhyun thought he was going to burst for a moment. “We don’t leave anyone behind.”  
  
That was rich coming from Do Kyungsoo, who managed to alienate him for the past three weeks, and so Baekhyun did end up alive and well with Kyungsoo's determination in mind.  
  
On the other hand, Jongdae latches onto Baekhyun fast: he sleeps on Baekhyun during trips, laughs at Baekhyun’s stupid jokes and they bond over making Chanyeol’s life a good kind of hell. They act like separated twins at birth, which frankly, is quite amusing and annoying at the same time. It doesn't annoy Chanyeol as much as Kyungsoo.   
  
Meanwhile, Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s relationship slowly develops into genuine friendship, although the unintentional touches and longing glances still linger from time to time. The more time they spend together, the lesser their differences become, and they find themselves falling a little deeper every time. Most times, they catch each other staring, and only tries to make a joke out of it.  
  
"I caught you staring," Baekhyun would usually say, and Chanyeol would snap back with, "You wouldn't be able to if you weren't looking at me, too."   
  
But it’s always easier to fall back into the routine of keeping each other’s emotions tightly jarred instead of confusing themselves, so they take that path.  
  
Their only problem? It doesn't quite work as easily as they think it would.  
  
  
  
 **Paris: December 24, 2014**  
  
Seven continents and countless plane rides and train tickets later, the Phoenix team finds themselves sitting in a cafe in Paris.  
  
Jongdae rips the small note posted on the cafe’s bulletin of memories and raises an eyebrow at Chanyeol. It’s already winter and he’s all wrapped up in a puffy dark blue parka. “Coordinates?”  
  
Chanyeol squints at it, his mind automatically shifting the letters and numbers together. “Yeah, it seems like an address,” he replies, a grin spreading in his face as they come back to their table.  
  
They’re still eating breakfast meals at noontime, but it doesn’t really seem all that different with the rate they’re traveling for the past few months. “Finish up, this is our Christmas meal,” Kyungsoo tells them.  
  
“It’s Christmas?” Chanyeol exclaims, eyes widening. “Oh shit. I forgot about Yoora noona.”  
  
“I already sent her a gift,” Baekhyun quips. Although he’s never really met her, Chanyeol’s enthusiastic stories already make him feel so familiar with her. “I sent her a necklace with her birth stone courtesy of the CIA,” he explains, chewing on his waffle. Chanyeol looks at him gratefully. “I’m not sure if they’re deducting it from your salary, though.”  
  
“Thank you,” is all Chanyeol can say, mostly because Baekhyun always gets him off guard. He digs into his chicken waffles with a very pleased satisfaction weighing in his heart.  
  
  
  
Finding the right apartment written in the post-it and breaking into the building’s security system have been seriously draining tasks. However, the vault they find inside the place was another story. It only takes Chanyeol about a minute to decode it.  
  
“You’re really getting good at this,” Jongdae compliments, squeezing his shoulder.  
  
Chanyeol only does his signature wink and peace sign. Inside the vault is another post-it note. Chanyeol stares at the scrambled letters written in jet blue ink, trying to decipher the latest clue they have on the enemy.

 

**L** IWQ2FH1  
IBHACY **U** W  
ZE **H** ERTFA  
OSSH **A** JRW  
WJG **N** WDB

  
"Hurry up, Chanyeol," Kyungsoo hisses as soon as the security breach alarm goes off. “We don't have all the time in the world."  
  
"I think I've got it," Chanyeol finally says, blinking up at all of them. "Does LUHAN ring a bell?"  
  
"Lu Han?" Jongdae cuts in, eyebrows knitted together. He sets his palms on his waist and scoffs, not believing Chanyeol's confused expression and his constantly fluttering eyelashes. "This isn't really the time to joke around," he finally says when Chanyeol still doesn't budge.  
  
"So?" Kyungsoo prods impatiently.  
  
"I can't believe this." Jongdae licks his lower lip. "Are you really telling me that the only clue we got after all those gunfight is the Chinese pop star Lu Han?"  
  
Baekhyun perks up. “Didn’t Zitao say they recruit those who travel a lot?”  
  
“Worldwide concerts and foreign schedules,” Chanyeol adds in, his mouth turning into an ‘O’.  
  
"I think I'm gonna have to pick up my limited edition CD back home,” Jongdae says faintly. "You know, just in case he isn't actually the bad guy."  
  
“Finally. This night just got more interesting," Kyungsoo says, circling his finger around the trigger guard and making a shooting gesture at the wall. “It’s been a while that we got some exciting action.”  
  
"You really should stop doing that," Chanyeol says sagely, clutching his chest.  
  
Kyungsoo's face only breaks into a grin. "Come on, guys. We have a pop star to chase down."  
  
  
  
By midnight, Baekhyun and Chanyeol stagger back to their room with a few drinks flushed down their system and party hats with  _Happy Holidays_  strapped on their heads.  
  
They celebrate Christmas before the day's over, excusing themselves for at least a night off. Kyungsoo's the first who gets drunk, spitting comments on how much he adores everyone else including Baekhyun, who only ruffles his head and smugly says, "I knew you'd given in to my charms a long time ago."  
  
Jongdae volunteers to take Kyungsoo back, although technically Chanyeol and Kyungsoo share the same room. "Merry Christmas, you two," Jongdae says, tittering as he hails a babbling Kyungsoo up.  
  
Chanyeol finds it ironic that they're in the most romantic city in the world and yet here he is, suppressing the hope he has in his chest as he glances down at Baekhyun.  
  
It's unspoken but the way Baekhyun meets his stare tells him he feels the same. Chanyeol and Baekhyun—they're always full of words, but saying their emotions out loud seems like the hardest thing to do. Maybe tonight, it's okay to finally let the caged feelings go.  
  
The gentle click of the key card echoes their silence. Chanyeol lets Baekhyun go first, cautious. Tries not to let his nervousness be too obvious as he watches Baekhyun unfurl his scarf. Chanyeol swallows. "Hey," he calls out softly.  
  
"Hmm?" Baekhyun replies, looking at him expectantly. There's a twinkle in his eyes.  _Hope_ , Chanyeol categorizes, seeing the way it glimmers when Chanyeol sidles closer.  
  
It takes courage for Chanyeol to lace their fingers together, his palm warm against Baekhyun's. It's not too hot, just comfortable enough for Baekhyun to tighten his grip. Chanyeol's been wearing gloves as a precaution after their mission in Los Angeles, but tonight—it's as harmless as it can be.  
  
"I have a present for you," Chanyeol says slowly, his other hand reaching for his pocket. "Close your eyes."  
  
Baekhyun feels a cold chain dangling off his neck a moment later. When he opens his eyes, he sees Andromeda's stone twinkling under the fluorescent light. "It's beautiful," he says breathlessly, holding it with a dazzling smile. "How'd you get it back?"  
  
"It took a lot of effort to convince them that it's useless now," Chanyeol says, chuckling. "And maybe Joonmyun wasn't exactly pleased when I convinced Sehun to steal it for me before he even agreed."  
  
"It's perfect," Baekhyun says, grinning at him. It falters for a second. "I'm sorry I don't have anything for you."  
  
Chanyeol laughs playfully, feeling relaxed. "I have an idea." He flicks his fingers, a small spark coming out of it, and Baekhyun looks up to see a mistletoe hanging over them.  
  
"Did you plan this?" Baekhyun wonders accusingly, hitting him slightly in the arm.  
  
Chanyeol pretends to ponder for a moment. "Maybe."  
  
"Come here." Baekhyun tiptoes to press a kiss on his lips, soft and pliant, their mouth slotting together perfectly. Baekhyun grins in the middle of the kiss and Chanyeol's face lights up, illuminating the room like a shiny little star as he pulls Baekhyun closer.  
  
That night, he dreams of the future with Baekhyun on his side.  
  
  
  
 **Ko Samui: January 1, 2015**  
  
Knowing about Lu Han's identity was the hardest part. Tracking him down? It's as easy as a click on his official Weibo page.  
  
They fly to Thailand a week after the Paris stakeout. Lu Han has been invited to perform at an exclusive New Year's Eve celebration at the W Hotel in the island of Ko Samui and it's the perfect location to capture him. It's private, the island is secluded, and the hotel amenities are fucking magnificent.  
  
Thailand's weather during January is fantastic. Jongdae parades over to the bar and orders a shot of whiskey. He's wearing beach shorts and sunglasses, his toes digging into the sand.  
  
Chanyeol slides next to him, his face sun kissed as he sits at the bar. "You're not supposed to drink," he tells Jongdae.  
  
Jongdae only swings a hand around him, leans in to casually sniff his perfume. Chanyeol recoils immediately as soon as Jongdae starts cackling. "I like this scent on you," Jongdae says. "It's very refreshing. Almost seems like you're trying to impress someone."  
  
 _Barely_ , Chanyeol thinks, although Jongdae already knows what's up.  
  
The kiss back in Paris remains in that hotel room. Nothing has followed it, no attempts. They just act normal. However, it's already obvious with the way they look at each other that something's changed. Kyungsoo doesn't try to stop himself from making remarks and Jongdae doesn't stop putting them together like they're supposed to stick around all the time.  
  
"Incoming," Jongdae murmurs, putting his elbows on the bar counter. Lu Han's a few feet away, making his way down the bar.  _Fuck, he looks really good_ , Jongdae thinks, mesmerized. He takes off his sunglasses suavely, and Chanyeol tries not to laugh as Jongdae tucks it into his shirt.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"Looking cool," Jongdae whispers, "I'm his fan, alright? This is my only chance to get noticed."  
  
Chanyeol shakes his head and takes out a notepad. There are lyrics scribbled on it and Jongdae raises an eyebrow. "Is that me and Baekhyun's lyrics book?"  
  
"Yes," Chanyeol confirms.  
  
Jongdae tries not to gawk at Lu Han walking toward them. He gulps and breathes deeply. "Cover?"  
  
"Composer and his assistant, now shut up and let me do all the talking."  
  
Lu Han's nice when Chanyeol initiates the conversation with him. Mandarin flows easily out of his mouth now that he's practically memorized four dictionaries and Jongdae's pick up line books. "Hey, you're Lu Han right?"  
  
"Yes, I am," Lu Han says politely and Chanyeol makes sure that he sees his notebook on the side. "And you're..." he trails off.  
  
"Canlie," he replies. "Assistant of this guy next to me." He points at Jongdae who flashes him a charming grin and a cute wave. "This is Chen. He's a lyricist."  
  
"You look beautiful," is Jongdae's garbled reply as he extends a hand toward Lu Han.  
  
Lu Han looks naive, his long eyelashes fluttering against his lids when he says, "Thanks." His mouth moves cutely when he talks. Chanyeol wonders briefly how much of an image it is. He meets Jongdae's hand halfway. "It's nice to meet you, too."  
  
"He doesn't speak Mandarin," Chanyeol supplies, looking at Jongdae who's helplessly staring at their joined palms. Chanyeol has to break it for them, giving Lu Han a polite smile.  
  
In the end, they manage to get an invitation to the party by a very unsuspecting Lu Han. "Judging on your descriptions, your lyrics sound great," Lu Han genuinely tells them, sliding an invitation forward. "You'll meet more prospects for your lyrics in there."  
  
Chanyeol smirks at a still very enchanted Jongdae. "Get your suit ready," Chanyeol says, lifting the invitation card. "We're attending the party."  
  
  
  
At exactly 7:45pm, Chanyeol finds himself standing outside Baekhyun's hotel room.  
  
This is not a date.  _This is really not a date_. "It's not a date," Chanyeol says out loud, wondering if he thinks and says it more then it would actually calm his thrumming pulse.  
  
Baekhyun opens his door and knocks the air out of Chanyeol's chest all over again. It reminds him of their first date, and Baekhyun looks fucking amazing. He's wearing a white tux with a pink bow. Chanyeol thinks maybe it's time to make another Christmas day on January.  
  
"Should we go?" Baekhyun asks, not even bothering to mask his smile. "Stop looking at me like that."  
  
Chanyeol's cheeks are flushed when he takes Baekhyun's hand. It seems like an odd thing to do, but it's comforting to just freely grab Baekhyun's hand. Besides, there's no Kyungsoo or Jongdae who'll holler after them.  
  
"What's our cover?"  
  
Chanyeol flashes him a splitting grin. "Assistant lyricist and his boyfriend on a romantic vacation."  
  
"Sounds nice," Baekhyun says, chuckling as he scoots closer, his cheek on Chanyeol's arm. "You're wearing a new perfume?"  
  
Of course he'd worn it for Baekhyun, but the question still catches Chanyeol off guard. He absolutely doesn't remember the one fragrance Baekhyun liked when they were walking around at a mall in Paris. "Yeah," he says sheepishly, "I picked it up on Duty Free."  
  
"Smells like the one I liked," Baekhyun says frankly. He nudges Chanyeol on the side. "Are you trying to impress me?"  
  
"Of course not," Chanyeol stammers, raising an eyebrow. Baekhyun looks at him expectantly, a teasing smirk plastered on his face. "Maybe just a little."  
  
"Even if you are, it's hardly effective," Baekhyun says, his laughter genuine as he rests his chin Chanyeol's shoulder. "You do it enough without all that effort."  
  
Chanyeol's heart tumbles in his chest. "Fair enough," he replies, eyes crinkling.  
  
"You two are sickeningly sweet," Kyungsoo comments with a knowing wiggle in his eyebrows as he walks by them.  
  
Baekhyun shrugs. "We are 'a couple on a romantic vacation'," he air quotes.  
  
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. "Where's Jongdae?"  
  
"Probably trying out the pick up lines he learned from that special edition magazine called  _How to Win Over Lu Han's Heart Vol I_."  
  
Chanyeol's prediction is close enough. They find Jongdae by the bar talking to Lu Han via gestures. The pop star ends up excusing himself once Jongdae's friends show up. "I was having a good time," Jongdae whines.  
  
"With a possibly dangerous criminal," Chanyeol says.  
  
"And a very hot one too," Jongdae adds longingly. "Honestly though, he seems innocent. I don't think EXO's leader is showing up tonight either."  
  
"Intel says he'll be here," Baekhyun adds.  
  
""Keep your eyes open and spread out." Kyungsoo on the other hand, lets his eyes linger on the glasses of champaign on the side. He picks one out and takes an elegant sip. "Maybe enjoy a little too," he adds, pointing at the dance floor.  
  
"May I?" Chanyeol asks, holding out his hand. Baekhyun giggles lightly to annoy Kyungsoo when he takes Chanyeol's hand, but the pat he does on Kyungsoo's thigh just says  _thank you_.  
  
They get into position in the middle of the dance floor and  _The Way You Look Tonight_  starts playing in the background.  
  
"I like this song," Chanyeol says charmingly. "It kind of fits you." Chanyeol slides his hands on Baekhyun's waist and Baekhyun wraps his arms around his neck.  
  
Baekhyun bats his eyelashes playfully. "Are you hitting on me, Agent Park?"  
  
"It's an obvious attempt to."  
  
Baekhyun laughs at that. "This reminds me of Beijing," Baekhyun whispers a beat later.  
  
Chanyeol hums. "Hopefully with less foot stomping."  
  
"I'd like you to know that it was  _very_  intentional."  
  
"I know," Chanyeol says with a pout. "If we're being honest, I'm probably the one more prone to step on you."  
  
They stay quiet for the rest of the song, swaying lightly with bright smiles on their faces. Chanyeol leans down to Baekhyun's ear while the song transitions to the next one. He closes his eyes and feels hopeful. "You know, our first date could really use a second chance," he says lowly.  
  
Baekhyun looks up at him, his face beaming as bright as the sun. "Which part of it would you like to redo?" he asks jokingly.  
  
"Everything," Chanyeol replies, feeling relaxed. That means it's a yes. "Maybe a bit more of the kissing."  
  
"Alright then, Prince Charming." Baekhyun closes his eyes, expecting for him to close the gap between them. Chanyeol stares at his face fondly, caresses his cheek, leans in and—their earpieces crackle with Kyungsoo's urgent voice.  
  
 _"Lovebirds, target's on the move."_  
  
Chanyeol's eyes swiftly scan the crowd. Lu Han is exiting the area discreetly with two men. A few meters away from the door, Jongdae puts his champagne glass down and surreptitiously follows them.  
  
They hide behind a pillar as they watch a crowd of men surround Lu Han. Kyungsoo scoots down and Chanyeol tries to balance himself on top with Baekhyun peering between them.  
  
Lu Han greets them casually and Chanyeol can clearly him talking in fluent Korean to a tiny man wearing a suit. Chanyeol squints his eyes, feels them zooming by themselves. It's an unfamiliar face. He's short, probably around Kyungsoo's height. He looks too young to be the leader of the most dangerous organization after EXO, but then again, the way he holds his hand up and gets Lu Han trembling is a very, very bad sign.  
  
"They've caught Zitao," the guy says, jaws tensed. His voice sounds child like, almost unfitting the words coming out of his mouth. "We have an inkling that they're coming after you."  
  
"What do you want me to do, Jino?" Lu Han asks restlessly. Jongdae signals for them to come over to his post to get closer. They go one at a time, positioning themselves with their guns out ready.  
  
"Nothing much."  
  
Chanyeol's moving when the guy—Jino—curls his mouth ruthlessly and adds, "We just have to get rid of you before they find you."  
  
Of course, trust Chanyeol to trip over something in the most crucial moment. "Fuck," he curses as soon as they all turn around to the sight of him flopped on the floor. Jino's eyes widen in surprise, quickly moving his way out."Hello?" he says sheepishly.   
  
It's turmoil after that. Chanyeol manages to duck behind another pillar, takes his gun out and manages to shoot down three at a time. Lu Han's the first who starts disarming Jino's men, sending two down with consecutive front kicks. "He's _so_ hot," he hears Jongdae comment under his breath.  
  
Baekhyun slides forward, shooting continuously at the men with a fierce Kyungsoo following after him, two hands occupied with pistols. They eliminate almost half of the guards. During situations like these, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo always go well together. "Go after the leader," Kyungsoo tells him, shoots a man's hand whose gun's pointing toward Baekhyun. Baekhyun nods and takes off.  
  
Jongdae takes his place instead, although Jongdae's always been more into physical fights. He disarms a guy and aims a strong punch against his jaw before spinning around and doing a roundhouse kick. A guy comes up behind Jongdae, putting him on chokehold before Chanyeol squeezes the guy's arms, electricity oozing out of him. He lets the man fall helplessly on the ground.  
  
"You don't mess with my friends," Chanyeol mumbles, high fiving Jongdae before throwing a cross punch at a man aiming for him.  
  
"Dead guy?" Jongdae asks, heaving.  
  
"Nah," Chanyeol says. He can still hear him breathing. "Just passed out."  
  
From a distance, a few gunshots echo. Chanyeol feels as if he's submerged in cold water, his breath getting caught in his throat. "Baekhyun," he whispers, running toward the source of the sound. Thank god for his super speed that he finds Baekhyun on time at the dock. He's on the ground, back plastered on the floor with a guard holding a gun to his head. Anger boils inside him, looking at Baekhyun miserable on the floor with four men hovering him. His eyes focus on a bruise at the corner of Baekhyun's mouth, his other hand limp on the side. He's wincing and Chanyeol's fucking enraged.  
  
His body heats up, gathering all the enormous energies it can take in. When he takes a step, the wood of the dock burns underneath his feet. He raises his hand, waves it, and the man's gun gets thrown toward the water. Surprised, they inch backward away from Baekhyun, eyes full of fright.  
  
"Who gave you the right to hurt him?" Chanyeol asks hotly, clenching his fists. He feels them burning and when he glances at the water next to him, a fiery blaze of fire is coming out of his hands. Chanyeol isn't afraid. In fact he's never felt so powerful until now. It's as if he can do anything. Fire starts to come up at the places he wants them to show up: at the feet of the assailant, on a sleeve of another man, a smoldering ring of fire forming to surround them.  
  
Chanyeol can roast them alive if he wants to. Turn them into ashes, discard them like they're unimportant lives. It's tempting. The tips of the fire go even higher. Chanyeol wants to do it.  
  
"Don't," he hears Baekhyun say and Chanyeol clears his head for a second, rationally thinks about the situation. "Don't do something you're going to regret."  
  
Chanyeol sucks his breath. The men are staring at him like he's some sort of a monster. He closes his eyes, calms himself down. When he opens them, the fire dissipates into smoke. He snaps his fingers four times and all of them pass out on the ground. He didn't even know that he could do that.  
  
"Are you alright?" Chanyeol finally says when he comes back to his senses, panicking as he crouches down. He touches every spot of Baekhyun's face, his palms clammy. "You made me worried."  
  
"Small scratch, nothing too serious." Baekhyun winces, touching the wound near his mouth, but he smiles lightly at Chanyeol. "But I thought I won't be able to see you after that."  
  
"You idiot," Chanyeol says. He just holds him near, the idea of how close he was to losing Baekhyun finally sinking in like a heavy anchor pulling his heart down the sea. He presses a soft kiss against his forehead. "I'll always make sure to protect you," he says like a promise. That sentence alone makes Baekhyun feel like the pain's gone away.  
  
Jongdae, Kyungsoo and Lu Han show up soon enough. "Did he get away?" Jongdae asks.  
  
"Yeah," Baekhyun replies while Chanyeol helps him stand up. He writhes in pain as soon as he moves his left hand. "Sorry, there were more guards in this area. He escaped on a jet ski."  
  
"It's okay," Kyungsoo says worriedly, looking at his arm. "Did you break it?"  
  
"Just a sprain, I think." Kyungsoo helps Chanyeol and slides a hand on Baekhyun's waist. Baekhyun looks at them gratefully.  
  
"There's a first aid kit in my room," Lu Han offers quietly.  
  
Jongdae stares at him and gasps, "You speak Korean?"  
  
Lu Han tries not to crack a smile. "Yeah," he says, patting Jongdae at the back. "Thanks for trying out your Mandarin, though."  
  
  
  
They find themselves at Lu Han's place after that. He's staying at one of the Extreme Wow Ocean Haven villas and Kyungsoo grumbles, "Why doesn't the CIA offer a place like this to us?"  
  
Chanyeol busily tends to Baekhyun as soon as he gets the medicine kit while Kyungsoo and Jongdae interrogate Lu Han. It's easy, mostly because Lu Han's willing to cooperate. After all, they did just save his life. The basics are pretty simple: Lu Han got recruited at the peak of his debut; the organization promised to make him famous enough to travel the world—and Lu Han, young and carefree, didn't really understand the risks. "I usually just pass on messages to Jino," he finishes off. "Sometimes I travel with their packages and deliver." He stares at Chanyeol's hands, remembers the flames they emitted earlier. "I was the one who took Andromeda to Beijing."  
  
That catches Chanyeol's attention. "You were the one who smuggled Andromeda to China? How?"  
  
Lu Han swallows. "One of the creators was a childhood friend of mine. I stole it from him."  
  
"You what?"  
  
"He dedicated most of his life to it," Lu Han explains guiltily. "Andromeda's his most valuable creation. The ideas all came from him. Then he got recruited by the US Government, left China to pursue his dreams. We didn't talk much years after that—but one day, he just told me to meet him. I was in Los Angeles that time for a signing when he showed me the first trial—the necklace."  
  
"Wow," Jongdae says in shock. "You did that to your best friend?"  
  
"I thought he was going to come after it," Lu Han says defensively. "He didn't. Not even a word from him for years. Instead of giving it to the organization, I left it in the museum."  
  
"That sounds..." Kyungsoo starts. "Very stupid."  
  
Lu Han flinches. "Yeah, I know."  
  
"What about Jino? Isn't he too young to be the leader of EXO?" Chanyeol asks.  
  
Lu Han purses his lips. "He wasn't the leader at the time I got recruited. It was an old man—Leeteuk or something, I've never met him. Jino was a brilliant scientist and contributed a lot, helped them build up the organization even at a young age. When Leeteuk passed, Jino had the brightest ideas for the group so they gave him the job."  
  
"Why was he after Andromeda anyway?"  
  
"He worked on it with my friend. The trial run was supposed to be given to him."  
  
"Sounds a little fucked up," Jongdae comments, whistling.  
  
"Yeah. Being nice to him was my way of compensating," Lu Han sighs. "Until he tried to kill me tonight, I guess."  
  
The team comes after an hour to pick Lu Han up. Sehun lamely makes a joke out of the situation and says, "You're under arrest for stealing hearts all over the world."  
  
Jongin is laughing, bent over as he clutches his stomach, but everyone else is unimpressed. Jongin looks up and coughs. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."  
  
Lu Han holds out his hands and Joonmyun cuffs it gently. "Agent Byun, send us all the information you have when you get better," Joonmyun orders.  
  
Lu Han purses his lips. "It was nice meeting you four. Thanks for saving my life."  
  
"You've been helpful," Baekhyun says gratefully.  
  
"By the way, I like this image better than what you normally have," Jongdae says, grinning as he holds out his fist. Lu Han bumps his with it, equally laughing. "You should keep it up."  
  
"Maybe not in jail," Lu Han says disappointedly.  
  
The four of them watch as the chopper flies away. Baekhyun slacks backward, arm in a makeshift cast.  
  
"It's such a shame, he was pretty good at fighting," Chanyeol comments wistfully.  
  
"He has potential. I'm sure they won't let him rot in jail." Baekhyun shakes his head with a short laugh as he slumps against the sofa. "Besides, he knew one of the scientists."  
  
"I think we have a slight problem," Kyungsoo says a few seconds later, staring at Lu Han's personalized microphone lying on the coffee table.  
  
Jongdae picks it up and says, "Isn't he supposed to perform tonight?"  
  
Chanyeol looks at his watch. "It's almost midnight."  
  
Baekhyun blinks at them. "What should we do, then? He's already gone."  
  
Jongdae passes the microphone toward Baekhyun with a rowdy simper. Kyungsoo and Chanyeol exchange knowing glances. "Have you forgotten we're a  _band_?" Jongdae asks, rolling his ripped sleeves up and getting rid of his tie. His mouth turns into a gleeful smirk. "Agents, it's time to rock the stage."  
  
  
  
 **Moscow: January 31, 2015**  
  
It takes almost a month to find out where Cho Jino is hiding. The collaborative effort of Lu Han and Zitao together with the rest of the captured criminals supplied the team all the information they need. Not wanting a repeat of the past event, the CIA eventually sends in the full team and extra troops for the stakeout in Russia.  
  
After all their hard work, the most anticipated arrest of the year doesn't exactly seem all that thrilling anymore. They bust into Jino’s laboratory one Sunday evening only to find him sitting in his snuggly winter pajamas in the basement with a bowl of popcorn and a shitty stream of Inkigayo.  
  
Jino stares back at the countless rifle lasers aimed at him. He swallows the popcorn in his hand slowly, eyes wide. They try their best not to crack up at him. It's unprofessional. Chanyeol ends up snickering anyway.  
  
"It's a past time," Jino says defensively. "Even the greatest criminals have hobbies."  
  
Everyone ignores him except for Chanyeol. "Watching K-pop is not what I pictured it to be," Chanyeol snorts.  
  
"Are you sure we got the right guy?" Sehun wonders out loud. He cocks his gun toward Jino and squints. "This is he?"  
  
Jino feels a little offended.  
  
"Well, yes," Baekhyun says, bursting into laughter. "I'll never forget how he tried to shoot me once. He missed, by the way." He clicks his tongue. "Definitely not meant to stay without guards around."  
  
Red Velvet's newest song continues to echo throughout the silence. They're singing about grief or something, probably a follow up to their  _Happiness_  single. It's the circle of life. Jino blushes even more, clutching the edges of his pajamas. He looks constipated by the way he's trying to take in all the embarrassment.  
  
"Are you seriously not going to turn that off?" Kyungsoo says just when Jongdae comments, "That's a _really_ nice jam."  
  
"Thanks, it really is," Jino replies gravely and turns it off.  
  
Baekhyun takes the liberty of arresting him. He bends Jino over the desk, cuffs his hands behind him with a satisfied grin. "Have fun at CIA's basement," Baekhyun tells him, sneering. Jino owes him three weeks of not being able to move his arm. "I heard the sun doesn't even reach it."  
  
While the team takes him away, Jino continues to screech a variation of "That's supposed to be me with the superpowers. I deserve those!" and other incriminating comments on their team. They only wave mocking goodbyes at him.  
  
Minseok greets them at the chopper waiting for Jino. He has that kind of expression that makes you feel all warm inside. He looks like a proud supervisor. "Your team's been invaluable. We couldn't have done this arrest without all of you."  
  
"You did take my advice on loosening up," Chanyeol says, grinning. He reaches to clasp Minseok's hand. The shorter man looks at it, shakes it. Chanyeol pulls him in for a hug.  
  
"Unprofessional, Agent Park," Minseok says as he pulls away, but he's got a big smile on his face.  
  
Jongdae shrugs as Joonmyun finally closes the chopper's door. "I didn't expect to go through all that trouble for a boring arrest," he says. It's been a tiring month. His mouth curls up, stretching like a kitty ready to take a much awaited nap.  
  
"We did a good job." Chanyeol slides a hand on Jongdae's shoulder, opens his other one for Baekhyun and Kyungsoo to get into. They look silly with Chanyeol holding all of them, their faces squeezed together on Chanyeol's chest. The rumble of Chanyeol's laughter vibrates against their cheeks. For the first time, Chanyeol says, "I love you, team."  
  
They only gang up on Chanyeol because of his cheesy line. The tips of his ears are pink as Jongdae climbs over him and ruffles his hair. Kyungsoo's aiming for his arm with light punches. Baekhyun, on the other hand, pulls him shortly and kisses his cheek. Everyone else who sees them will have their cheeks bursting because of a gigantic smile, knowing that a relationship like this is a rare gem.   
  
A friendship like this is priceless. Chanyeol won't exchange it for anything else in the world.  
  
  
  
 **Gyeonggi: February 9, 2015**  
  
A private plane is waiting for Baekhyun and Chanyeol in the military airbase located in Pyeongtaek.  
  
Zhang Yixing, the original scientist who worked on Project Andromeda, has finally been tracked down. Joonmyun says that Yixing's the key to everything there is to know about this project—and that, well, he's currently residing with his beach shorts in Brazil. "Don't ask me why, he's always had a thing for indecent exposures," Joonmyun only says curtly, coughing to his hand as he finally turns off the communicator.  
  
"I can't believe it's almost over," Chanyeol says, sighing in relief. He tucks the small communicator screen to his pocket and starts up the engine of the car.  
  
Once they arrive in Rio De Janeiro, Yixing can hopefully drain out the superpowers infused in his body, and the operation will finally come to an end. He looks at the passenger seat and taps Baekhyun's knees. "Baekhyun, come on. We should be celebrating."  
  
Baekhyun, who's finally getting the gist of his sleep, jerks away and hits his head on the window. "Jesus, Chanyeol, can you at least let me sleep?"  
  
"You dozed off during Joonmyun's briefing," Chanyeol replies.  
  
Baekhyun grumbles. "You can remember all of it anyway. What's the use of having a super brain when you can't use it?"  
  
Chanyeol is cackling now. "It's more entertaining this way. Come on, we're on our way to our last mission." His palm finds its way on Baekhyun's cheek, and Baekhyun only nozzles his face sleepily against it. "You should really wake up now, sleeping beauty," Chanyeol says, his brash laughter bouncing around the interior of the car as he starts driving again.  
  
It feels good just letting it all out, his worries tucked behind the back of his mind. After all of this, his life might go back to the way it was before. Chanyeol's going to admit it—he's going to miss this: the thrill of the ride on the way to god knows where, an adventure waiting for them on the other side of the world. No matter how dangerous the road has been, it's honestly been the most fun he's had in his life.  
  
Most of all, he's just really gonna miss doing this with Baekhyun.  
  
"You're so annoying." Baekhyun huffs, but his face lights up in the dark. Chanyeol sees it from the corner of his eyes, his own pair twinkling.  
  
"Roll your window down," Chanyeol tells him. Baekhyun notices they're going by the Han River, the traffic not as congested as the past few days they've been in Seoul. "The weather is really nice."  
  
Their first meeting flashes in Baekhyun's memory as he pushes the window button down. For a winter night, the breeze is surprisingly nice and accommodating. Grinning, he leans back into his seat snuggly, and replies playfully: "I think I'm going to need your coat."  
  
Next to him, Chanyeol's flustered chortles die down until they reach the highway. How they first met wasn't exactly the ideal moment for the two of them, but who knows if they'd be here now if it weren't for that exact moment where Chanyeol spilled his drink all over Baekhyun.  
  
"Get over yourself," Chanyeol replies jokingly a moment later. Baekhyun's shaking his head at him now, lips curled into a smile, before looking back at the window. He takes his time to reach for Chanyeol's hand and laces their fingers together.  
  
"You're telling me," Baekhyun says with a hint of amusement. Chanyeol's calloused fingers fit his nicely, his own thumb running across the back of his palm. Baekhyun's eyes glaze over Chanyeol's hands one more time, reminded of the blazing fire coming out of them, the danger they can hold and the power they can generate—and yet they’re just here, harmless, holding Baekhyun’s like that’s what they're meant to do.  
  
  
  
 **Rio De Janeiro: February 10, 2015**  
  
Contrary to popular belief, scientists don't necessarily have to be nerdy looking in order to succeed.  
  
When one thinks of how complicated Project Andromeda's been—one might assume that the creator is actually some sort of hermit who spent 24/7 in his laboratory, personal hygiene neglected. Or at least, that's what Baekhyun and Chanyeol assume before they opened Yixing's file at their hotel room.  
  
 _Project Andromeda: Zhang Yixing, 26 years old._  There's a picture attached of a very handsome man. His lips are full, kind of like Chanyeol's and his eyes wide. In this photo he's got slightly long hair tied back into a ponytail.  
  
"He's really hot," Baekhyun says, gawking.  
  
Chanyeol fishes the photo out of his hand. He eyes it, remembers every detail. He puts it on the side table. "Where do you think we should start?" Chanyeol hums distractedly, pulling Baekhyun by the waist.  
  
It's the first time in a while that they've been alone. Jongdae and Kyungsoo get left behind mostly because the new mission doesn't necessarily require assistance. Not that Chanyeol desperately wants them to leave, anyway. It's nice to have them around, but being here, alone with Baekhyun in some obscure hotel room in another continent gives off a different feeling.  
  
Baekhyun plays along with with him, grinning. He looks up at Chanyeol with a flirtatious quirk of his lips. "I think..." he says, barely a whisper as he leans closer. Chanyeol closes his eyes and anticipates. Baekhyun only meets his mouth with his palm and says cheekily, "We definitely  _can't_  start on this bed."  
  
Chanyeol pouts at him, a little ashamed. "Fine, you tease," he says, giving up.  
  
Baekhyun only tugs on his hand toward the door with a delightful smile that steals Chanyeol's breath away.  
  
  
  
It's an understatement to say that Baekhyun and Chanyeol don't make the most out of their mission.  
  
Without Kyungsoo and Jongdae around, it feels like there are no boundaries: Baekhyun can lean up to kiss Chanyeol on the lips while he's at the balls of his feet, wake up to the sound of Chanyeol's light snores with his arms wrapped around Baekhyun. Chanyeol likes to hold his hand freely without a care in the world (Chanyeol admits it—he really has a thing for Baekhyun's pretty hands), go on walks like every other normal couple, shamelessly feed each other at the hotel's breakfast bar. They do everything that they can think of, even spams Kyungsoo and Jongdae's LINE accounts with pictures.  
  
 _You're not having your honeymoon_ , Kyungsoo replies back, adding a pretty scary sticker of an angry character with fire blazing around him.  
  
Jongdae only spams them back with countless of James stickers expressing his glee.  _HOPE YOU'RE HAVING FUN!!!_ and sends Chanyeol a separate message.  _You know what to do ;)_ , it says, and Chanyeol only tucks in his pocket with a small chuckle.  
  
The trip seems like the perfect honeymoon—minus the literal dicking around. Chanyeol hopes they'll get to that soon.  
  
There's no rush to find Yixing, but they travel a lot around the city trying to spot him. Libraries, the botanical garden, even at the Monastery of Sao Bento (it's Chanyeol's idea that maybe, just maybe, Yixing's succumbed to the monk life). They search for him at companies and laboratories, ask around with all the information they have.  
  
They don't find him until four days later when they've finally given up on looking at the most likely places a scientist could be in.  
  
Chanyeol asks Baekhyun out for a quick stroll at the Copacabana, mostly due to Jongdae's persistent request. _Take him out on a real date! It's Valentine's Day_ , Jongdae says, followed by a series of lewd emojis.  
  
So Baekhyun comes back to their hotel room with a note plastered on his bathroom's mirror.  _First real date? ;) I'll meet you by the beach at five thirty_. Baekhyun peels the blue sticky note, trying to stifle a face-splitting smile as he walks back into the bedroom and tucks it in his notebook on the bedside table. He plops in his bed and muffles an embarrassingly joyous shriek against his pillow.  
  
In the end, Baekhyun shows up wearing a black v-neck and beach shorts. The sun's almost setting down when he reaches the destination. Chanyeol's sitting on one of the benches wearing a blue tank top and plaid shorts, looking like he's just stepped out bed and walked around getting sand on his toes, but he still knocks the breath out of Baekhyun.  
  
"Hey." Baekhyun slides next to him with a grin. The way Chanyeol's face lights up underneath the yellow lamppost is beautiful and Baekhyun already wants to kiss him. "You look dashing tonight."  
  
Chanyeol looks at their outfits, bursts into a smile. It's no suit and tie but they're comfortable. "Yeah, I kind of got them from the beach store," Chanyeol chuckles. "They have an impressive selection of outfits."  
  
It's good kind of night. The beach is crowded despite it being February, mostly just couples like them strolling around. A concert is going on at the farther end of the beach. They walk around for a while and end up at a small restaurant by the dock, eat seafood and tease each other, looking like they're having the best time of their lives.  
  
After that, they settle close to the water and sit on the sand. It's silly and cliche but they do watch the sunset with their hands clasped together, Baekhyun's head laying on Chanyeol's shoulder as they eat the ice creams they got from a street vendor.  
  
"Aren't you going to miss it?" is what Baekhyun asks the moment they start walking back. It's pretty late and the beach is already dark, and they're walking around with sandals on their hands.  
  
"Miss what?"  
  
"The superpowers," Baekhyun says. "They sound amazing."  
  
Chanyeol pauses and looks at him. He remembers the incident in Thailand, purses his lips and shrugs. "They're great, really. Enjoyable to have. But having all of them at once—it's hard. Sometimes I'm scared that I won't be able to control them, or that they'll take over me." He pauses, reaches for Baekhyun's hand. They twine their fingers together like a habit. "It's pressuring. It's like having too much weight on my shoulders."  
  
Baekhyun feels like there's something more to that. "Are you going to quit after this mission?" he asks cautiously. He wonders if this is the last mission he'll ever do with Chanyeol and just the idea of it—the fact that he won't be able to wake up with Chanyeol anywhere in the world, hold his hand whenever he wants to, have missions and do great things together—it's disheartening. It sinks down in his chest heavily.  
  
Chanyeol stops in his tracks. "You know that me and my friends—well, we're criminals."  
  
"Who carry tranquilizer guns instead of real ones," Baekhyun scoffs, smiling lightly. "Why did you even get into this business?"  
  
Chanyeol shakes his head and sighs. "Kyungsoo's father got set up for a robbery that he didn't commit when we were in college. It kind of weighed in on the three of us, affected our lives greatly. After that, we just found ourselves stealing for fun. Kind of like revenge, but it was profitable and we knew what to do so it became a series of adventures. We figured we were going to grow out of it anyway."  
  
Baekhyun slightly juts his lips at him, astonished. "Do you think you can work as an agent?"  
  
"With you?"  
  
"Yeah," Baekhyun says. "We make a pretty good team."  
  
Chanyeol chuckles, pulls him closer by the shoulder. Baekhyun pouts at him as Chanyeol leans in to press his lips lightly on his temple. "Who knows what will happen after this?" he mumbles.  
  
"We'll find something," Baekhyun replies, satisfied as he curls a hand around Chanyeol's waist. He snuggles his face on Chanyeol's neck and whispers, "Besides, we can always run away together."  
  
"Seems like a plan," Chanyeol replies, chuckling, the sound of Baekhyun's laughter sending his heart into a cacophony of heartbeats.  
  
They're on their way back to to their hotel when Chanyeol finally hears it. During the plane ride from Korea, Sehun has sent them the remaining audio files they have on Yixing. It's unmistakable and Chanyeol is pretty sure that it's Yixing's voice blaring out of the speakers with an acoustic guitar strumming along. He's singing _Knocking on Heaven's Door_ in a very... drunken manner. Chanyeol gets out of his trance when Baekhyun snaps his fingers at him.  
  
"You okay?"  
  
"It's him," Chanyeol says, then pulls Baekhyun forward and breaks into a run.  
  
They find Yixing giggling uncontrollably on the mic of one of the restaurants. He looks like he's going to fall any minute, swaying into his seat as he yells at the crowd to join him on the chorus. Sneaking toward the front, they wait until he's finally done with his hilarious performance. Yixing goes back to his table with the help of a beautiful lady, his guitar strapped on his shoulder. His table's full of empty bottles of beer. As soon as he plops back with his face down the table, he yells: "One more bucket, please!"  
  
Baekhyun and Chanyeol exchange glances as they hide behind menus and observe Yixing.  
  
"No one mentioned Yixing's an alcoholic," Baekhyun says in awe.  
  
"No one probably knew," Chanyeol whispers back.  
  
It's not how Chanyeol wants their date to end, but they wait for Yixing to finish his drinks. The same lady who helped him earlier hauls him up, but the way her eyes flicker around dangerously in the room makes Chanyeol extremely suspicious. "You don't think she's part of the organization, right?" Chanyeol hisses.  
  
So they follow them into a shabby apartment across the street, watching the lady act warily like she's making sure no one's around.  
  
"Shit," Baekhyun curses as they peek from the wall. Baekhyun takes out the gun from his behind. "I think she is."  
  
A few minutes later, they burst into Yixing's hotel door with guns cocked on either side only to find him passed out with his head on the floor and half of his body up on the mattress. The leery lady holds up her hands and squeaks, "I was only going to take his wallet!" before running past them.  
  
Baekhyun tries not to laugh. Chanyeol inches closely and pokes Yixing with the tip of his gun. Yixing doesn't budge for a second but then he snorts and scratches his nose before his hand falls pathetically down to the floor again.  
  
Baekhyun sniffs around him. "He's really dead drunk. Maybe three buckets tops."  
  
They both put their guns down and relaxes. Chanyeol stares at a helpless Yixing and says, "Let's wait until he's sobered up."  
  
  
  
The first thing Yixing asks them when he opens his eyes is, "Did I get back into the wrong house?"  
  
Baekhyun flashes his badge and says, "No. We're from the CIA."  
  
"Oh," Yixing says, blinking blearily at them. He sits up and makes his way toward the kitchen, sets up the kettle on the stove. He doesn't look drunk. Not even hungover. Kind of like he's already used to it. He turns around and raises an eyebrow at them.  
  
"Don't you get hangovers?" Chanyeol asks stupidly out of curiosity.  
  
Yixing only waves a hand at him. "I don't get it anymore. Genetic experimentation gone wrong," he says, pointing at the laboratory equipments on the dining table. "What brings you here?"  
  
"We're here for Andromeda."  
  
Yixing hums. "I don't have it."  
  
"I know you don't," Chanyeol says, then flicks his fingers together. "But I do."  
  
The small fire he lights up on his fingers seems to finally catch Yixing's attention. "Where did you get that?" is all he asks, his face stony.  
  
For the next hour, Yixing gets brief by an enthusiastic Baekhyun about Chanyeol's current status. Technically, Andromeda's not a completed project because they only had one trial for it—but Yixing's face brightens up as he finally says, "I didn't think it would work."  
  
"Everyone else didn't think so either," Baekhyun says. "Not until Chanyeol managed to absorb it."  
  
"Andromeda is complicated," Yixing explains, looking at Chanyeol carefully. "It doesn't work on just anyone. You've got to have the specific biological requirements I created for it."  
  
"Well, I guess my body was too good for it to refuse," Chanyeol says jokingly.  
  
"This is amazing," Yixing says gladly, his smile blinding. Baekhyun mirrors the same grin, their eyes disappearing into curves. Chanyeol finds it endearing. "I feel impressive."  
  
"They want you back, Yixing," Baekhyun says gently. "They want you to work on the antidote. You have to take the first one out of Chanyeol."  
  
"I—I can't work on it again," Yixing replies, shaking his head. "It's taken over my whole life. I just want to enjoy my youth now. Besides, reversing the fusion is dangerous."  
  
Chanyeol licks his lips, thinks about Lu Han back at the headquarters. If there's still a tiny sliver of care in Yixing's heart, maybe he'll be convinced. It's emotionally manipulative, Chanyeol admits that, but at this point of need, it's their only straw. "They've got your best friend."  
  
"What?"  
  
"They've got Lu Han. He was working for the enemy and they captured him."  
  
"That can't be right," Yixing says, blinking at them. "He's on vacation. I saw it on his Weibo schedule."  
  
That makes Chanyeol chuckle. So he does keep track of Lu Han, after all. "No sighting since New Year, right? Doesn't that ring a suspicious bell?"  
  
"I—" Yixing groans. "Maybe he's just enjoying really well."  
  
Chanyeol blinks innocently at him. "Not at the CIA basement, no."  
  
Yixing glares at him and finally surrenders with a small frown. "Fine. When do we leave?"  
  
Baekhyun gives Chanyeol a high five as Yixing grabs his guitar. "Now is a good time."  
  
  
  
  
 **Langley: June 2, 2015**  
  
It takes a while for Yixing to make the reversible Andromeda 2.0. Chanyeol spends approximately five weeks in and out of the laboratory for testings until one morning, he wakes up to find the sparks on his fingers gone.  
  
The team throws a small party in Minseok's office, even though he protests against it. Baekhyun only clings onto his arms, smiles and says, "You're the best, hyung."  
  
"To Operation Phoenix," they all chorus, lifting their glasses of champagnes.  
  
Baekhyun and Chanyeol manage to escape the crowd, settling with their own bottle of wine stolen from Joonmyun's office. They sit down on the sidewalk outside the building, letting the summer breeze kiss their faces.  
  
It's over. Months of missions and adventures finally come to an end tonight, but they still feel pretty high off of the adrenaline that constantly rushed through them.  
  
"So what now?" Chanyeol says, extending a hand toward him.  
  
Baekhyun stares at it, hesitant, but it doesn't take him long enough to catch it with his own. Chanyeol’s hand is warm, familiar, and it reminds Baekhyun of running around the world with the same palm over his. Baekhyun tries not to smile too much, but the the crinkle in his eyes says otherwise. “Congratulations on a great mission, Agent Park.”  
  
Chanyeol’s hand tightens around his, his face brightening up like the sun as he grins. He twines their fingers, and they fit perfectly together like a puzzle piece. “Always my pleasure to serve with you, Agent Byun.” Chanyeol purses his lips together and scrunches his nose a little. "Although I'm not sure if you'll be fine with that in the future. I'm not exactly the superhero I used to be."  
  
Baekhyun thinks of Chanyeol's clumsy long legs on their first meeting, his crazy smile that lights up Baekhyun's life, that amazing guy who made him feel alive in a span of months in all his superpower-less glory. Yeah, that's infinitely better. "I don't think that's going to be a problem at all," he finally says, looking like the happiest person in the world, before pulling Chanyeol by the hand and kissing him senseless.  
  
  
  
  
 **Epilogue—Seoul: November 26, 2015**  
  
Several weeks later after Operation Phoenix ended, Secret Box gets four packages with everyone's names in it. Yoora suspiciously raises an eyebrow at them and says, "Those better not be something indecent."  
  
"Ah, here they are," Baekhyun says, hopping off the high chair and picking up the neatly wrapped gifts as soon as Yoora leaves for the kitchen. Chanyeol hugs him from his behind, tucking his chin on Baekhyun's shoulder. "Director Sooman told me he's sending something down."  
  
"Early birthday present for Chanyeol?" Jongdae inquires.  
  
"No," Chanyeol replies confusedly. "We've all got one."  
  
"What is it?" Kyungsoo asks, picking the one with  _DKS_  written in it. There's a navy blue box inside. Kyungsoo pops it open and sees a silver ring laced with the same color as the box. There's an unfamiliar symbol embedded in it.  
  
"Is he proposing or something?" Jongdae says jokingly, opening his own. It has the same kind of ring, although the symbol is shaped like lightning. "Cool. Is this like our medal of chivalry or something?"  
  
Baekhyun and Chanyeol open theirs at the same time. A phoenix and a sun-like emblem. It's the same phoenix on that folder he got a long time ago. Chanyeol's eyes widen, a suspecting feeling in his gut. He looks up, meets Baekhyun's gaze. "I don't think—"  
  
It's too late. Jongdae puts the ring on his finger and starts convulsing like he's being electrified to a thousand watts. A moment later, he looks up with fried hair and a shocked face. When he exclaims a loud Wow, the electricity in the cafe buzzes, one lightbulb sparks up and everything else dies down. Yoora's scream from the kitchen bounces along the place. Jongdae purses his lips and shuts up guiltily.  
  
"I didn't know we're getting a new assignment," Chanyeol whispers, blinking furiously in the dark.  
  
Baekhyun nods fervently beside him. "Or any superpowers all."  
  
Kyungsoo only bursts out laughing, puts his arms around them and thumps on their backs. "We're due for a new adventure anyway."  
  
A new mission starts at that moment, and Chanyeol thinks he couldn't be more thrilled.  
  
  
  
 _end_


End file.
